I fully recognize that about 60 percent of you will be distracted by celebrating Beyonce's pregnancy (twins!). But I have something almost as important to talk about: Washington rules, precedent and bipartisanship are taking a beating right now — not unlike this car in "Lemonade." Washington = that car. (HBO.com) And that means there could be some serious drama upcoming in Washington. Let's run it down: President Trump's Supreme Court pick is in for a battle President Trump shakes hands with Judge Neil Gorsuch, his pick to fill a vacant seat on the Supreme Court. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) If these were ordinary times, it's likely there wouldn't be that much of a fight in the Senate to confirm Judge Neil Gorsuch. The Colorado federal appeals court judge is a respected conservative who fits the mold of the justice he'd be replacing, the late Antonin Scalia. But this is no ordinary situation. Some Democrats are incensed that Republicans spent nine months blocking former president Barack Obama's pick for the Supreme Court and now expect cooperation. "This is a stolen seat," declared Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) Others are just plain mad at President Trump. They're getting immense pressure from the left to block Gorsuch as leverage to try to undo Trump's controversial travel ban from seven predominantly Muslim countries. Can Democrats block Trump's pick? Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) (J. Scott Applewhite/AP) Yes and no. Senate Republicans ultimately have the ability to put Gorsuch on the bench, but as that one character in that one action movie once said: "We can do this the easy way or the hard way." The easy way: Democrats come to the conclusion that minority parties for most of modern history have come to unless something's really off with the nominee, the president should get his pick. They can ask tough questions in the hearings and even vote against Gorsuch, but they don't actively try to block his nomination. The hard way: Democrats decide to block consideration of Gorsuch — to filibuster his nomination. It takes 60 votes to overcome a filibuster; Republicans only have 52, which leaves them with the unenviable choice of letting the ninth seat go unfilled or blowing up the filibuster rules so they can get Gorsuch through with a simple majority. (The latter is a prospect so untoward in by-the-rulebook Washington it's known as "going nuclear.") This is an awkward position for Republicans to be in. In 2013, they cried bloody murder as Democrats got rid of the filibuster for most judicial and political nominations except Supreme Court nominees. Right now it looks like Democrats are leaning toward making life very hard for Republicans. Trump doesn't seem too concerned. "Go nuclear," he advised Senate Republicans. More Gorsuch, in 4 bullet points — He wrote a book on assisted suicide. He's not a fan: "All human beings are intrinsically valuable, and the intentional taking of human life by private persons is always wrong." | 