"I believe it will make this body a more partisan place," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on the Senate floor ahead of the vote. "It will make the cooling saucer of the Senate considerably hotter, and I believe it will make the Supreme Court a more partisan place. Trump himself predicted to reporters aboard Air Force One that "there could be as many as four" Supreme Court vacancies for him to fill during his administration. Then McConnell raised a point of order, suggesting that Supreme Court nominees should not be subjected to a 60-vote threshold but instead a simple majority in the 100-member Senate.McConnell was overruled, but he appealed the ruling. The 60-vote filibuster requirement on Supreme Court nominees was effectively gone, and with it the last vestige of bipartisanship on presidential nominees in an increasingly polarized Senate.The developments were accompanied by unusually bitter accusations and counter-accusations.

Source: Times of India April 07, 2017 16:30 UTC