Sen. Jeff Merkley charged Tuesday that Republicans had "stolen" the Supreme Court seat left vacant by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia – and vowed to fight President Donald Trump's nominee, Judge Neil Gorsuch.
In an interview on MSNBC's "The Rachel Maddow Show," the Oregon Democrat said he anticipated a fierce Senate battle on the issue — and would push for a 60-member vote to confirm Gorsuch.
"We must not forget this," he said of Republican's refusal to hold hearings on former President Barack Obama's SCOTUS pick, Judge Merrick Garland.
"This was not a normal consideration," he said. "This is a seat that was stolen from the former president… that's never been done in U.S. history…"
"To let this become normal just invites a complete partisan polarization of the court from here to eternity," he warned.
Merkley also issued a statement portraying Gorsuch as a "far right extremist."
Merkley also vowed to filibuster any Trump Supreme Court pick that isn't Garland.
"If President Trump were serious about healing the divisions in America and undoing the damage wrought by Senate Republicans last year, he could have named Merrick Garland to fill this seat,” Merkley wrote.
"Garland is a centrist jurist who is respected on both sides of the aisle. Instead, he doubled down on division by picking an ideological and extreme nominee to satisfy the far right."