McConnell: We Won’t Tolerate Dems Blocking SCOTUS Nominee

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Wednesday that he will not tolerate Democratic efforts to block President-elect Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee. McConnell’s remarks come just a day after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer suggested that Democrats would block a Trump nominee for the vacant spot on the high court, in retaliation for the GOP’s refusal to hold hearings on President Obama’s choice, Merrick Garland. McConnell invoked the so-called “Biden rule,” and said it means that a nomination should not be confirmed in an election year. But Biden’s actual remarks in 1992 were referring to the period before the election, meaning a nomination could be voted on and confirmed after Election Day. “Apparently there’s yet a new standard now, which is to not confirm a Supreme Court nominee at all,” McConnell said, adding: “We’ll be looking forward to receiving a Supreme Court nomination and moving forward on it.”