Curtis Levey, a constitutional law attorney for FreedomWorks, a Tea Party group backing Gorsuch, called such a split of votes a “halfhearted filibuster,” and that may be the likely path for Gorsuch to reach the high court.
That’s how Justice Samuel Alito was confirmed in 2006, Levey said. Then, 19 Democrats voted with Republicans to end a last-minute filibuster of Alito on a 72-25 vote. Minutes later in the final vote, just four Democrats joined Republicans and Alito was confirmed, 58-42.
Read more in Bloomberg Politics.