There Is No 60 Vote ‘Standard’

Other ‘Democrats Are Being Slippery With Their Language’

FactCheck.org: “A confirmation vote for a Supreme Court nominee requires only a simple majority, or 51 votes.” (“Sanders On SCOTUS Filibuster, Factcheck.org, 2/6/17)

The Washington Post’s Fact Checker: “Democrats are being slippery with their language. Sixty votes is not ‘a standard’ for Supreme Court confirmations, as two of the current justices on the court did not meet that supposed standard.” (“Senate Democrats’ Misleading Language On A 60-Vote ‘Standard’ For Supreme Court Nominees,” The Washington Post’s Fact Checker, 2/2/17)

• “Filibusters – and cloture votes – are rather rare in deliberations over a Supreme Court nominee.” (“Senate Democrats’ Misleading Language On A 60-Vote ‘Standard’ For Supreme Court Nominees,” The Washington Post’s Fact Checker, 2/2/17)

“Two of the justices on the Supreme Court failed to meet a ‘standard’ claimed by Democrats.” (“Senate Democrats’ Misleading Language On A 60-Vote ‘Standard’ For Supreme Court Nominees,” The Washington Post’s Fact Checker, 2/2/17)

• Justice Clarence Thomas was confirmed 52-48 (PN456 Clarence Thomas, Roll Call Vote #220, 10/15/1991)
• Justice Samuel Alito was confirmed 58-42 (PN1059 Samuel Alito, Roll Call Vote #2, 1/31/2006)

FALSE: ‘The Senate Must Insist Upon 60-Votes For Any Supreme Court Nominee’

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY) Yesterday: “Well, 60 votes should be the standard.” (ABC’s “This Week,” 3/26/17)

• SCHUMER: “First, it's 60 votes, which we've required of every – it's called a filibuster, but it simply says you need 60 votes – I've always believed that's the right amount of votes… I was open-minded and waited for the hearings.” (WABC-NY, 3/26/17)

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY) Before The Hearings: “The Senate must insist upon 60-votes for any Supreme Court nominee, a bar that was met by each of President Obama’s nominees.” (Sen. Schumer, Press Release, 1/31/17)

• SCHUMER: “If this nominee cannot meet the same standard that Republicans insisted upon for President Obama’s Supreme Court nominees—60 votes in the Senate—then the problem lies not with the Senate but with the nominee… I am coming back to the floor to correct the record on my earlier comments, where I said Republicans ‘insisted’ on 60 votes for each of President Obama’s nominees. Sixty votes is a bar that was met by each of President Obama’s nominees…” (Sen. Schumer, Congressional Record, S.542 & S.545, 2/1/17)

SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-IL): “…Neil Gorsuch. He should have a hearing and he should meet the voting standard that Supreme Court nominees are held to of 60 votes. A standard that was met by Elena Kagan as well as Sonya Sotomayor, President Obama's choices.” (MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” 2/1/2017)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT) Is Just Plain Confused: “Requiring 60 votes in the Senate to confirm Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court is not a filibuster, Bernie Sanders argued Sunday ahead of a Democratic effort to block President Trump's nominee to the high court. ‘It's not a question of filibustering,’ Sanders said on CNN's State of the Union. … In fact, the vote that Sanders referred to, which requires 60 votes in Senate rules, is not a vote on confirmation but rather a vote to limit debate, which wouldn't be necessary if Democrats didn't threaten to filibuster. In the past, when Republicans were in the minority, Sanders has called requiring that 60-vote threshold a filibuster, even if no actual talking filibuster took place.” (“Sanders: Requiring 60 Votes For Gorsuch Is Not A Filibuster,” Washington Examiner, 3/26/17)

FACT: Neither Sonia Sotomayor Nor Elena Kagan Required Any Sort Of ‘60-Vote’ Threshold

No Democrats now serving in the Senate have EVER insisted that a Democrat President’s SCOTUS nominee meet a 60-vote standard.

FactCheck.org: “…that was not the case for the two Supreme Court justices nominated by Obama and approved by the Senate. Both were confirmed in the 111th Congress, when the Democrats controlled the Senate: Sonia Sotomayor on Aug. 6, 2009, and Elena Kagan on Aug. 5, 2010.” (“Sanders On SCOTUS Filibuster, Factcheck.org, 2/6/2017)

The nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States did NOT require 60 votes. (PN506 Sonia Sotomayor, Roll Call Vote #262, 8/6/2009)

• “Mr. REID: Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that tomorrow, Thursday, August 6, at 10 a.m., the Senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of Executive Calendar No. 309, the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, and that the time until 2 p.m. be divided equally in alternating 1-hour blocks with the Republicans controlling the first hour; that at 2 p.m. the time be divided 15 minutes each as follows: Senator SESSIONS, Senator LEAHY, Senator MCCONNELL and Senator REID, in that order; that at 3 p.m., without further intervening action or debate, the Senate proceed to vote on confirmation of the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor; that upon confirmation, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, no further motions be in order, the President be immediately notified of the Senate’s action, and the Senate then resume legislative session. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.” (U.S. Senate, Congressional Record, S.8887, 8/5/2009)

The nomination of Elena Kagan to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States did NOT require 60 votes. (PN1768 Elena Kagan, Roll Call Vote #229, 8/25/2010)

• “Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays on the nomination of Elena Kagan to be an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second? There is a sufficient second. The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the nomination of Elena Kagan, of Massachusetts, to be an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court? The clerk will call the roll. The legislative clerk called the roll.” (U.S. Senate, Congressional Record, S.6830, 8/5/2010)