Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the Senate will not confirm President Obama’s pick to join the Supreme Court, even in a lame duck session when Hillary Clinton could be preparing to nominate a more liberal judge in 2017.
Senate Republicans say they will not consider Merrick Garland, the chief judge on Washington’s powerful federal appeals court who Obama picked to replace the late Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court. Republicans argue the next president should pick the new Supreme Court justice. Asked if Clinton winning the election would change that calculation, McConnell said no.
“We’re not going to be confirming,” the Kentucky Republican said Sunday on “Meet the Press.” “My hope [is] that she will not be making the appointment.”
McConnell said that Republicans are operating under the so-called “Biden Rule” from 1992, when then-Sen. Joe Biden speculated that a vacancy created in an election year would not be filled by the sitting president.
Pressed on his support for allowing then-President George W. Bush to name federal judges late in his presidency, McConnell acknowledged that both parties have wavered, but stood by past precedent that has prevented election year nomination to the high court.
“Nobody has been entirely consistent, so let’s just look at the history of it,” he said.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said in an appearance on the show that there is no such thing as the Biden Rule. Every instance is different, the Nevada Democrat said. In this case, he said, the Senate should vote on Garland’s nomination because the people elected Obama for a full four year term.
“We believe there should be a full vote,” Reid said on the same show. “I don’t know why McConnell has done this to his senators. He’s marching his men and women off a cliff.”
“Over this, they’re going to wind up losing Senate seats they should have won,” Reid said. “I’m glad they’re doing it, but it’s so foolish.”
Reid suggested that some GOP lawmakers may not follow him off the cliff, noting several have broken with the Republican leader and agreed to meet with Garland.
Reid denied Democrats would do the same thing to stop a Republican president from putting a judge on court in an election year.
