“There’s been an almost seismic shift in the caucus [against Gorsuch],” Schumer said as the Senate Judiciary confirmation hearings wrapped up Thursday. “He did not win anybody over with his testimony.”

If Schumer stops Gorsuch during a filibuster vote in early April — and the New Yorker was brimming with confidence that he will — it will almost certainly force McConnell’s hand on the so-called nuclear option. Schumer is betting McConnell does not have the votes to do away with the 60-vote requirement for Supreme Court nominees.

“I don’t think it’s a foregone conclusion that Mitch McConnell changes the rules,” Schumer said. “There are people in his caucus who really don’t want to change the rules, OK?”