Senate won't consider a SCOTUS nominee by Obama, Republicans say after closed-door meeting
Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee said on Tuesday that there will be no hearings or vote on any Supreme Court nominee submitted by President Barack Obama.
The senators spoke with reporters after meeting in private with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Associated Press, the New York Times and CNN report.
“No hearing, no vote,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. He and Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas both said the consensus view among Republicans on the committee is that there will be no hearings.
The Republicans pointed to a statement by Joe Biden in 1992, who was chairman of the Judiciary Committee at the time. Biden said President Bush shouldn’t nominate anyone to the Supreme Court until after the presidential election. There was no vacancy, however.
Earlier on Tuesday, McConnell said Obama “has every right to nominate someone—even if doing so will inevitably plunge our nation into another bitter and avoidable struggle.” The Senate also has “a constitutional right to provide or withhold consent,” and “the Senate will withhold it,” McConnell said.
Rather than making a nomination, Obama should “let the people decide and make this an actual legacy-building moment rather than just another campaign roadshow,” McConnell said.
