McConnell: “Highly unlikely” to let Biden confirm SCOTUS vacancy

WASHINGTON (WTVQ) – Mitch McConnell says it is “highly unlikely” he would let President Biden confirm a Supreme Court vacancy in 2024 if Republicans take back control of the Senate in next year’s midterm elections.

McConnell made the comments on a radio program Monday, June 14.

He said filling a Supreme Court vacancy in the middle of a presidential election when the Senate is of the opposite party as the president has not been done since the 1880s.

He was non-committal when asked about an opening at the end of 2023.

McConnell and Senate Republicans refused to consider the Supreme Court nomination of Merrick Garland by then-President Obama in 2016. This was a presidential election year following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia.