McConnell says Republicans would confirm a Supreme Court justice in 2020

(Image credit: Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images)

published 29 May 2019

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.

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McConnell's spokesman, David Popp, attempted to explain McConnell's thought process, telling CNN that the difference is in 2016, a Democrat was in the White House and the Senate was controlled by Republicans, but now, both are held by the GOP. Be that as it may, it still doesn't change the fact that 2020 is a presidential election year, just like 2016, which used to be McConnell's sticking point. RBG, keep taking your vitamins.

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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.

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