Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand admits Neil Gorsuch's Supreme Court confirmation is a sure thing

The Senate hearing for President Trump's Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch will begin on March 20, and one Democratic senator says his confirmation is a sure thing.

While she opposes Gorsuch as a replacement for the seat vacated by the late Justice Antonin Scalia, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York predicts that if he doesn't receive the requisite 60 Senate votes for confirmation, the rules will be changed to assure he ends up on the high court regardless.

"I hope we do vote him down. But make no mistake: If we do hold the line with 60 votes, Mitch McConnell will change the rules the next day," Gillibrand said in an interview with NY1. "I do not have any hope that he won't change the rules the minute he doesn't get his way. So it likely will be 51 votes, regardless, at any given time that a nominee is blocked."

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President Trump has already voiced approval of Senate Majority Leader McConnell's potential use of a such rule-changing tactic, often referred to as the "nuclear option."

Shortly after he nominated Gorsuch, Trump said in regards to Senate Democrats' likely opposition to his pick, "If we end up with that gridlock I would say, 'if you can, Mitch, go nuclear.' Because that would...be an absolute shame if a man of this quality was put up to that neglect."

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Gorsuch recently topped President Trump in public opinion polls, and a recent AOL News poll shows majority of people surveyed do not think Democrats should try to block the president's Supreme Court nominee. Of the thousands polled, 58 percent said Democrats should not endure the extreme measures that would be necessary to block Gorsuch from being confirmed to the position.