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Manchin: Senate Dems Would Be 'Wrong' to Filibuster Trump's SCOTUS Nominee

February 1, 2017

Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) told CNN anchor Chris Cuomo on Wednesday that he looks forward to meeting with President Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Judge Neil Gorsuch, and has no intention of filibustering him with fellow Democrats.

Manchin began the interview by scolding Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) and other Republican senators for refusing to allow a vote on former President Obama's Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland last year. While Manchin acknowledged that Republicans probably had enough votes to block Garland, he said that they should have at least met with Garland and allowed a vote.

Manchin then criticized Senate Democrats for trying to get even with Republicans, and discussed what he would personally do about Trump's nominee.

"I'm anxious to sit down with the new nominee and find out more about him, to find out basically to look at his judicial rulings and have more of an idea of what's going on," Manchin said. "If you want the third branch of government to work, then you got to have a nine-member Supreme Court."

"If Republicans did something and now Democrats are going to do something, two wrongs don't make a right," Manchin added.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) has said he will block any nominee "out of the mainstream," and Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) and Jeff Merkley (Ore.) have vowed to oppose Gorsuch and potentially try and filibuster his confirmation vote.

Manchin had promised he would not filibuster Trump's pick for the high court before the president made his formal nomination on Tuesday night.

"I'm not going to filibuster anybody," Manchin told the Weekly Standard as he was heading into a luncheon on Tuesday hours before the announcement.