Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) said on Tuesday night that he plans to do everything he can to block President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for the Supreme Court.
MSNBC host Rachel Maddow asked Schumer if it is even "legitimate" for a Trump nominee to fill the current Supreme Court vacancy since Senate Republicans blocked President Obama's nominee for the court, Judge Merrick Garland.
"It's hard for me to imagine a nominee that Donald Trump would choose that would get Republican support that we could support, so you're right," Schumer said.
"So you would do your best to hold the seat open?" Maddow asked.
"Absolutely," Schumer responded.
Only a simple majority in the Senate, or 51 votes, is needed to confirm a Supreme Court nominee, but senators could choose to filibuster debate in the chamber before it reaches a final vote. It takes 60 votes to break a Senate filibuster. Republicans now only have 52 members in the Senate, so they would need eight Democratic or Independent lawmakers to join them to break a potential effort to block debate on Trump's nominee.
