Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore. speaks to reporters just outside the Senate chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, April 5, 2017, after he ended a 15 hour all-night talk-a-thon as the Senate heads toward a showdown over the confirmation vote for Supreme Court Justice nominee Neil Gorsuch. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore. speaks to reporters just outside the Senate chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, April 5, 2017, after he ended a 15 hour all-night talk-a-thon as the Senate heads toward a showdown over the confirmation vote for Supreme Court Justice nominee Neil Gorsuch. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) Credit: J. Scott Applewhite

Washington — When Judge Neil Gorsuch met with Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer on Feb. 7, he told the Democrat something he would repeat privately and publicly: Attacks on the federal judiciary are “disheartening.”

Just three days had passed since President Donald Trump tweeted his disdain for the “so-called” judge in Washington state who knocked down his first attempt at a travel ban. But when Schumer asked Gorsuch whether he was willing to repeat himself publicly and explicitly call out Trump, the judge and his team declined, according to two people familiar with the exchange who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the private gathering. But they affirmed that he was free to talk about the exchange publicly if he wanted.

The next day, Gorsuch expressed the same “disheartening” sentiment, this time in a meeting with Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who disclosed the discussion — grabbing headlines and then concern from colleagues. Democrats began to ask themselves whether Gorsuch was offering a canned line, written to give him distance from Trump without actually signaling that he would break with the president.

“They came to me afterward and they said, ‘Wow, he used the same words with me, same act,’ ” Blumenthal recalled in an interview.

The anecdote is telling in that Senate Democrats — who will move today to block Gorsuch’s confirmation to the Supreme Court — have long had their reservations about Gorsuch, a genial federal appeals court judge who appeared to be caught up in the partisan trench warfare that long preceded him. The decision by 44 Senate Democrats to block consideration of Gorsuch on the Senate floor sets up a historic clash with Republicans, who are expected to move to change the Senate rules, allowing the judge to be confirmed by a simple majority. Under current rules, Republicans would need 60 votes to break the Democratic filibuster.

The confrontation, which members of both parties had once hoped to avoid, comes as liberal organizers demanded that Democrats step up their resistance to Trump. But it is also rooted in Gorsuch’s private answers to individual Democratic senators on what kind of justice he would be and his public testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee about his philosophy.

“We had the opportunity to listen to Gorsuch, meet with him, watch the committee hearings — something that wasn’t given to the Obama nominee — and came to the conclusion, each on our own, that this was not somebody we could support,” said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.

That bitterness was evident in the Senate-floor speeches Democrats delivered on Wednesday — including a marathon address by Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., who spoke against Gorsuch for about 15 hours all night Tuesday and into Wednesday morning.

“To proceed to fill this stolen seat will damage the court for decades to come,” Merkley declared.

Republicans continued to argue on Wednesday that Democrats were being held hostage by a restive political base.

Even as Democrats were able to band together against Gorsuch, their strategy is risky. It could spur Trump to fill future Supreme Court vacancies with even more conservative picks and put their agenda at greater peril.