McConnell says Republicans would confirm a Supreme Court justice in 2020

Mitch McConnell.
(Image credit: Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images)

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has reversed course on confirming a Supreme Court justice during a presidential election year, now that there's a Republican in the White House.

While speaking at the Paducah Chamber of Commerce luncheon in Kentucky on Tuesday, McConnell was asked what his position would be on filling a Supreme Court vacancy should a justice die in 2020. "Oh, we'd fill it," McConnell said with a smile, as the audience laughed.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

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.

Sign up
Explore More
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.