McConnell Defends Supreme Court Push

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell defended himself Thursday evening against claims that he is being hypocritical by pushing to confirm a new Supreme Court justice before the upcoming elections.

After Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement, McConnell said on the Senate floor that legislators "will vote to confirm Justice Kennedy's successor this fall," which prompted an outcry from Democrats, who accused the majority leader of hypocrisy for not waiting until after the elections as he did when former President Barack Obama nominated Merrick Garland in 2016.

"Sen. McConnell set the new standard by giving the American people their say in the upcoming election before Court vacancies are filled," Democratic Minority Whip Dick Durbin said in a statement, according to CNN.

"With so much at stake for the people of our country, the U.S. Senate must be consistent and consider the President's nominee once the new Congress is seated in January."

"What I said in 2016 is that we shouldn't fill a Supreme Court vacancy in the middle of a presidential election year. The last time I looked, there's no presidential election this year," McConnell said on Fox News Thursday. 

"And, in fact, three current members of the U.S. Supreme Court were completed in election years, non-presidential election years. And the president's nominee to the Kennedy vacancy will be confirmed in a non-presidential election election year," he added.

• Court Confirmation Process Likely to Follow Gorsuch Playbook
• Durbin: McConnell Won't Follow Own Rules on Kennedy Replacement