Sen. Ed MarkeyEdward (Ed) John MarkeySenate set to bypass Iran fight amid growing tensions Young activists press for change in 2020 election Hillicon Valley: House panel advances election security bill | GOP senator targets YouTube with bill on child exploitation | Hicks told Congress Trump camp felt 'relief' after release of Clinton docs | Commerce blacklists five Chinese tech groups MORE (D-Mass.) pledged Monday that Democrats will restore a 60-vote filibuster threshold for Supreme Court nominees if they regain the majority in the upper chamber. 

"We will restore the 60-vote margin. We will ensure that for the Supreme Court there is that special margin that any candidate has to reach," he told MSNBC.
 
He said making Supreme Court candidates get 60 votes "is essential to ensuring that our country has a confidence in those people who are nominated, rather than just someone who passes a litmus test." 
 
Markey's comments come after Republicans triggered the "nuclear option" last week to confirm Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, who took the judicial oath on Monday. 
 
There's been no indication yet from Senate Democratic leadership that it plans to restore the 60-vote procedural threshold if the party retakes the Senate in the future. 
 
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Under a rule change enacted last week by the GOP, the minority party will still be able to filibuster Supreme Court nominees, but the majority will only need 51 votes, instead of 60, to end debate. 
 
Republicans defended the rule change by arguing Democrats were waging the first "partisan filibuster" of a Supreme Court nominee and were signaling they wouldn't back any Republican nominee.  

“Our Democrat colleagues have done something today that is unprecedented in the history of the Senate. Unfortunately, it has brought us to this point. We need to restore the norms and traditions of the Senate," Majority Leader Mitch McConnellAddison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellEXCLUSIVE: Trump on reparations: 'I don't see it happening' Overnight Health Care — Sponsored by Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids — Trump issues order to bring transparency to health care prices | Fight over billions in ObamaCare payments heads to Supreme Court Hillicon Valley: Senate bill would force companies to disclose value of user data | Waters to hold hearing on Facebook cryptocurrency | GOP divided on election security bills | US tracking Russian, Iranian social media campaigns MORE (R-Ky.) said shortly before the vote. 

Democrats accuse Republicans of effectively filibustering former President Obama's nominee for the court, Merrick Garland, because they refused to give him a hearing or a vote. 

Senate Democrats, led by then-Majority Leader Harry ReidHarry Mason ReidSenators briefed on US Navy's encounters with UFOs: report Key endorsements: A who's who in early states Trump weighs in on UFOs in Stephanopoulos interview MORE (D-Nev.), voted in 2013 to lower the procedural hurdle for lower court and executive nominees, allowing them to clear the chamber with a simple majority, but kept the 60-vote filibuster in place for Supreme Court picks.
 
Markey's Monday pledge was met with near-immediate skepticism from some GOP strategists. 
Tags Mitch McConnell Harry Reid Ed Markey