Trump Advises Senate to "Go Nuclear" If Dems Block Gorsuch and More In Politics Today

It’s difficult to stay up-to-date on what’s happening in this country and to break through the clutter, so we’re here to make it easier. Here’s what we at Countable are reading today:

1. "If court pick is blocked, Trump advises Senate to ‘go nuclear’"

"President Trump, seeming to relish a fight with Democrats over his nominee for the Supreme Court, on Wednesday encouraged the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, to invoke the so-called nuclear option and abandon the 60-vote threshold for Supreme Court nominees."

"His call for a battle came as Democrats began grappling on Wednesday with their most consequential strategic choice to date in the age of Trump: how aggressively to oppose the president’s choice, federal appeals court judge Neil M. Gorsuch."

Read more at the New York Times.

2. "Collins, Murkowski to vote no on education secretary nominee"

"GOP Sens. Susan Collins (ME) and Lisa Murkowski (AK) in back-to-back speeches on the Senate floor announced Wednesday that they would oppose Betsy DeVos's nomination to be Education secretary. They are the first two Republicans to break with Trump on any of his Cabinet picks, and the votes could make it difficult for DeVos to win confirmation."

"If all of the Senate's Democrats vote against DeVos, she would have 50 votes if the remaining Republicans backed her — with Vice President Mike Pence potentially breaking the tie. No Democrats have backed DeVos."

Read more at The Hill.

3. "Poll: 1-in-4 voters believe Trump's vote-fraud claims"

"One in four voters believe President Donald Trump's unsupported claim that millions of votes were illegally cast in the 2016 election, but more people believe that Trump benefited from any electoral malfeasance instead of Hillary Clinton."

"In the opening days of the Trump administration, the White House has signaled that it would open an investigation into voter fraud, even though there is scant evidence of widespread issues with the nation's electoral system."

Read more at Politico.

4. "Army Corps ordered to approve final step to finish Dakota Access Pipeline"

"The 1,172-mile Dakota Access Pipeline is nearly complete, except for a hotly contested section under North Dakota's Lake Oahe that's been the topic of massive protests. But now, the Army is allowing that final section to be built, two lawmakers said."

"Acting Secretary of the Army Robert Speer "has directed the Army Corps of Engineers to proceed with the easement needed to complete the Dakota Access Pipeline," Sen. John Hoeven said in a statement Tuesday. The North Dakota Republican said he spoke with Speer on Tuesday."

Read more at CNN.

5. "UK parliament votes to trigger Brexit"

"MPs have voted by a majority of 384 to allow Theresa May to get Brexit negotiations under way. They backed the government's European Union Bill, supported by the Labour leadership, by 498 votes to 114."

"But the Scottish National Party and the Liberal Democrat leadership opposed the bill, while 47 Labour MPs and Tory ex-chancellor Ken Clarke rebelled. The bill now faces further scrutiny in the Commons and the House of Lords before it can become law. The prime minister has set a deadline of 31 March for invoking Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, getting official talks with the EU started."

Read more at the BBC.

— Erin Wright

(Photo Credit: Bill Ingalls - NASA / Public Domain)