Skip to main content

Politicians make promises on their stump — we watch and hold them accountable.

Help keep the record honest →Create an account
Fully KeptJudiciary / Senate Rules

Pledged to vote against cloture on the pending Supreme Court nominee (Neil Gorsuch) unless Republicans and Democrats reached a reliable, trustworthy agreement preserving minority input on future nominees.

Sources (click to view full provenance)

Propose an edit to this promise's details

Suggest a sourced correction to the promise text, topic, scope, significance, or dates. Changing the promise text requires a source. Your suggestion is reviewed before it changes the record.

Sign in and complete the Contributor Agreement to propose an edit.

Assessments

evidence-backed verdicts

These are sourced verdicts from fact-checkers or community evidence reviews — not opinions.

Fully KeptFact-checker reviewConfidence: 96%

All three cited sources are reachable and each supports the FULL outcome; every quote appears verbatim. (1) The Coons press release (coons.senate.gov, PRIMARY), dated April 3, 2017 and about the Gorsuch nomination, contains the pledge verbatim: "I will vote against cloture unless the Republicans and Democrats in the Senate can somehow find an agreement that is trustworthy and reliable where on the next Supreme Court nominee they won't change the rules and we will have input..." — establishing both the promise and its conditional "unless." (2) The official Senate roll-call record (senate.gov, PRIMARY) for Vote #105, April 6, 2017, confirms the cloture motion on Gorsuch failed 55-45 under the 3/5 threshold (Cloture Rejected) and that Coons voted Nay — i.e., against cloture, exactly as pledged. (3) ABC News (REPUTABLE_SECONDARY) independently confirms "The first Senate vote to end debate on his nomination failed with a vote of 55-45." The pledge's "unless" condition (a trustworthy bipartisan agreement preserving minority input) was never met — McConnell invoked the nuclear option instead — so the pledged action (a Nay vote against cloture) came due and Coons cast it. Outcome is a precise match to the promised action and is not overstated; FULL (rather than CHAMPIONED) is appropriate because the promise's core commitment was the vote itself, which he cast as pledged. Note: the ABC News link uses the abcnews.com host rather than abcnews.go.com, but it resolves to a genuine article with the matching text, so it remains a valid supporting source.

Your opinion on this assessment(clearly labeled opinion)

Sign in to vote.

Discussion

community opinions

Comments are user opinions — not verdicts. They do not affect the official assessment.

Sign in to join the discussion.

Propose a correction

community accountability

See an error in the promise text, status, significance, or missing source? Submit a sourced correction — a reviewer will evaluate and apply it if accurate. Your submission must cite evidence; unsourced changes are not accepted.

Sign in or create an account to propose a correction.

Debate

sourced community arguments

These are sourced community arguments — not StumpWatch assessments. Each cites a source and is community-contributed; it does not change the official status or rating above.

No arguments yet

Be the first to weigh in. Every argument cites a source and is reviewed before it publishes. Create an account to add one and help keep this promise honest.

Add a sourced argument

Cite a source for your point. Submissions are held for reviewer approval before they appear.

Sign in or create an account to add an argument.

StumpWatch is live, and the record is still growing. Many promises and positions aren’t tracked yet, and some features are still in beta. Add a sourced promise and help keep the record honest.

Help keep the record honest →