WASHINGTON (AP) — Top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell says flatly that his party won’t permit a vote on any Supreme Court nominee submitted by President Barack Obama but will “revisit the matter” after the presidential election in November.
The Kentucky Republican acknowledged that Obama is within his rights to nominate a replacement to Antonin Scalia but said Republicans controlling the Senate would exercise their rights to “withhold” consent.
In response, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., accused McConnell of taking his cues from Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. On the day of Scalia’s death, Trump told a debate audience that the Senate should “delay, delay, delay.”
Scalia’s death has incited a major fight in Washington over whether Obama should be able to replace him in an election year.