As we approach the one-year anniversary of Justice Antonin Scalia’s death, it seems the current administration is ready to move forward, with President Donald Trump nominating Judge Neil Gorsuch of the 10^th Circuit Court of Appeals to fill the seat on January 31^st.

Given the intensely partisan nature of the President and the increased polarization of the left-right divide in American politics over the previous eight years, the vitriolic reaction to Judge Gorsuch is expected, if also totally unwarranted.

Despite President Trump’s own unconventional nature, Gorsuch is as plain as vanilla. A longtime Coloradan, but Harvard-educated, Gorsuch has clerked in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals for Judge David Sentelle, as well as for Supreme Court Justices Byron White and Anthony Kennedy. Kennedy, a Reagan appointee, is still on the Court at 80 years old. Gorsuch is well respected and popular with his colleagues in the 10^th Circuit.

So, it seems incredulous that Senate Minority Leader, Chuck Schumer (D-NY), should even consider denying his confirmation.

While Republicans maintain a majority in the Senate, procedural rules allow for filibustering of Supreme Court nominees. The threshold to break a filibuster is 60 votes, something the Republicans do not have (the current majority sits at 52-48). This puts Sen. Schumer in a rare position of power: should he rally a filibuster of Judge Gorsuch or allow the nominee to pass?

In a way, it a much untenable position for Mr. Schumer. Though they do not have a filibuster-proof majority, the Republicans’ simple majority means that at any time they wish they may alter Senate rules to disallow for filibuster of Supreme Court nominees, as Harry Reid and the Democrats did for Cabinet nominees in 2013. This so-called “nuclear option” has been advocated for by President Trump in an effort to avoid any partisan bickering. In this regard, the Republicans could very easily confirm Judge Gorsuch, with or without Schumer’s support.

Meanwhile, there are those who are pushing for Schumer to support a filibuster. These are many of the same advocates who are pushing Congressional Democrats to impede Trump’s agenda, no matter the cost to their own objectives. Many cite the failure to bring Judge Merrick Garland’s nomination by then-President Obama to a hearing or vote as an affront to Constitutional duty, despite no such stated obligation for the necessity to hold a hearing and the support of similar obstructionist strategies by Democrats in the 1990s. Many have used Garland’s failed nomination as justification to attempt to sink Gorsuch as well.

Though Democrats have been almost unanimous in decrying most of President Trump’s other decisions, many, such as Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), have been supportive of Judge Gorsuch in his bid to be confirmed by the Senate, as have a number of liberal writers. This disunited front provides even further complications for Sen. Schumer, should he indeed opt to filibuster the Gorsuch nomination.

As unfortunate as the situation with Judge Garland was, the confirmation of Judge Gorsuch should not be fought. Gorsuch is a well-respected and impartial judge, regardless of his political views. Fighting his nomination will provide absolutely no gain for his Democratic opponents and only serve to shift them farther away from the mainstream than they’ve already wandered.