McConnell scapegoats Biden in defense of his SCOTUS comments
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) stands by comments made Monday in which he suggested the GOP would likely block a Supreme Court vacancy from being filled in 2024 (or earlier), should Republicans take control of the Senate in 2022.
When asked by CNN's Manu Raju on Tuesday to clarify his remarks, McConnell doubled down on the rationale he used to stifle the confirmation of Attorney General Merrick Garland in 2016, adding he's confident Democrats would do the same if roles were reversed.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
McConnell blocked the nomination of former President Barack Obama-nominee Garland in 2016, but not that of Justice Amy Coney Barrett in 2020, arguing election-year appointments are permissible so long as the Senate is held by the "same party as the president."
In his response to Raju, McConnell made sure to highlight again that, in the case of "divided government," there has "not been a nominee confirmed by a Senate of a different party than the president since the 1880s." He even went so far as to mention an instance in 1992 where President Biden, then a Delaware senator and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee had said "had a [Supreme Court] vacancy occurred, [the committee] would not fill it."
Watch McConnell's remarks below:
-
Political cartoons for January 10Cartoons Saturday’s political cartoons include a warning shot, a shakedown, and more
-
Courgette and leek ijeh (Arabic frittata) recipeThe Week Recommends Soft leeks, tender courgette, and fragrant spices make a crisp frittata
-
Trump’s power grab: the start of a new world order?Talking Point Following the capture of Nicolás Maduro, the US president has shown that arguably power, not ‘international law’, is the ultimate guarantor of security
-
The billionaires’ wealth tax: a catastrophe for California?Talking Point Peter Thiel and Larry Page preparing to change state residency
-
Hegseth moves to demote Sen. Kelly over videospeed read Retired Navy fighter pilot Mark Kelly appeared in a video reminding military service members that they can ‘refuse illegal orders’
-
Trump says US ‘in charge’ of Venezuela after Maduro grabSpeed Read The American president claims the US will ‘run’ Venezuela for an unspecified amount of time, contradicting a statement from Secretary of State Marco Rubio
-
Bari Weiss’ ‘60 Minutes’ scandal is about more than one reportIN THE SPOTLIGHT By blocking an approved segment on a controversial prison holding US deportees in El Salvador, the editor-in-chief of CBS News has become the main story
-
CBS pulls ‘60 Minutes’ report on Trump deporteesSpeed Read An investigation into the deportations of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador’s notorious prison was scrapped
-
Trump administration posts sliver of Epstein filesSpeed Read Many of the Justice Department documents were heavily redacted, though new photos of both Donald Trump and Bill Clinton emerged
-
Trump HHS moves to end care for trans youthSpeed Read The administration is making sweeping proposals that would eliminate gender-affirming care for Americans under age 18
-
Jack Smith tells House of ‘proof’ of Trump’s crimesSpeed Read President Donald Trump ‘engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election,’ hoarded classified documents and ‘repeatedly tried to obstruct justice’
