Sen. Claire McCaskill (R., Mo.) changed her tune on Friday over whether or not Supreme Court nominees deserve an up-or-down vote in the Senate.
McCaskill had argued in favor of giving Merrick Garland a simple up-or-down vote, but on Friday has said that she would not vote for granting President Donald Trump's nominee, Judge Neil Gorsuch, the same consideration.
"The Senate should do its job and Republican leaders should stop playing politics with the Constitution and hold a hearing a simple up-or-down vote," McCaskill said last year.
McCaskill has now announced that she will vote against Gorsuch, even though she recently said that a filibuster would be bad for the Senate and that Gorsuch was one of Trump's "better" choices.
If Senate Democrats do go forward and filibuster Gorsuch, Senate Republicans are likely to invoke the nuclear option which allows them to confirm Gorsuch with a simple majority of 51 votes, instead of 60. In 2013, Senate Democrats used the nuclear option to confirm appointees for every other position the Senate would need to consider, except the Supreme Court.
McCaskill's home state of Missouri was won by Trump in the 2016 elections, and McCaskill was one of Hillary Clinton's strongest supporters in the Senate. McCaskill's seat is up for election in 2018, leaving her considered vulnerable in a state with many Republicans elected to statewide office.