As Democrats move closer to filibustering Neil Gorsuch’s nomination to the Supreme Court, some conservatives are privately cheering the plan.

The filibuster will likely lead Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to trigger the so-called nuclear option and end the use of the filibuster on Supreme Court nominees. In the view of some conservatives, that would leave the Democrats with less leverage when the next opening on the high court comes.

“That’s a dumb strategic move for Democrats,” one conservative strategist from an outside group said.

Democrats and Republicans have argued over whether Supreme Court nominees have always been held to a 60-vote standard in the past. But the threat of the filibuster has always been there, which may have led some presidents to choose less extreme nominees. With that threat gone, some conservative strategists argue Trump would have a freer hand when he makes his next selection.

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