can the senate filibuster a supreme court nominee
Appointment and confirmation to the Supreme Court of the United States
Not everyone nominated by the President has received a floor vote in the Senate . Prior to 2017 a nominee could be filibustered once debate on the nomination had begun in the full Senate . A filibuster indefinitely prolongs the debate , preventing a final vote on the nominee . President Lyndon Johnson 's nomination of sitting Associate Justice Abe Fortas to succeed Earl Warren as Chief Justice in 1968 was the first successful filibuster of a Supreme Court nominee . It included both Republican and Democratic senators concerned with Fortas 's ethics . President Donald Trump 's nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the seat left vacant by Antonin Scalia 's death was the second . Unlike the Fortas filibuster , however , only Democratic Senators voted against cloture on the Gorsuch nomination , citing his perceived conservative judicial philosophy , and the Republican majority 's prior refusal to take up Obama 's nomination of Merrick Garland to fill the vacancy . This led the Republican majority to change the rules and eliminate the filibuster for Supreme Court nominations . 
Not everyone nominated by the President has received a floor vote in the Senate . Prior to 2017 a nominee could be filibustered once debate on the nomination had begun in the full Senate . A filibuster indefinitely prolongs the debate , preventing a final vote on the nominee . President Lyndon Johnson 's nomination of sitting Associate Justice Abe Fortas to succeed Earl Warren as Chief Justice in 1968 was the first successful filibuster of a Supreme Court nominee . It included both Republican and Democratic senators concerned with Fortas 's ethics . President Donald Trump 's nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the seat left vacant by Antonin Scalia 's death was the second . Unlike the Fortas filibuster , however , only Democratic Senators voted against cloture on the Gorsuch nomination , citing his perceived conservative judicial philosophy , and the Republican majority 's prior refusal to take up Obama 's nomination of Merrick Garland to fill the vacancy . This led the Republican majority to change the rules and eliminate the filibuster for Supreme Court nominations .
No.  Prior to 2017 a nominee could be filibustered once debate on the nomination had begun in the full Senate. However the rules were changed and the filibuster for the appointment and confirmation of nominations to the Supreme Court of the United States was eliminated.
Prior to 2017 a nominee could be filibustered once debate on the nomination had begun in the full Senate . A filibuster indefinitely prolongs the debate , preventing a final vote on the nominee . This led the Republican majority to change the rules and eliminate the filibuster for Supreme Court nominations .