On Thursday, the U.S. Senate deployed the so-called nuclear option.
The Republican majority voted to change longstanding Senate rules allowing the filibuster of Supreme Court nominees.
That gets around a Democratic filibuster of President Trump’s nominee, Judge Neil Gorsuch.
It also means all future Supreme Court nominees can be confirmed by a simple majority, rather than 60 votes.
Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley spoke with OPB "All Things Considered" host Kate Davidson about why he pushed for a filibuster even knowing the nuclear option was likely. Listen to their full conversation by clicking play in the audio player at the top of this article.
Copyright 2017 Oregon Public Broadcasting