McConnell signals he's open to confirming Supreme Court pick in lame duck
By Jordain Carney - 10/01/20 08:27 PM EDT
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) signaled on Thursday night that he's open to confirming President Trump's Supreme Court nominee during an end-of-year lame duck session.
"Well this Republican Senate was elected for a term that ends in January of next year. The president was elected for a four year term that ends January 20th of next year. There are no reduced constitutional prerogatives during either of our tenures," McConnell told Fox News, when asked about the potential of confirming Judge Amy Coney Barrett, Trump's pick, during a post-election session.
Senate Republicans appear set, absent an 11th hour setback, to confirm Barrett to the court before the Nov. 3 election, with the Judiciary Committee expected to vote to send her nomination to the floor on Oct. 22.
But McConnell has only said publicly that Trump's nominee will get a vote this year and reiterated on Thursday night that he had not yet decided when to hold a vote on the floor.
He added that he would make a decision on "when to go forward" after the Judiciary Committee's vote. Because Republicans hold a 12-10 majority on the panel, if all Republicans support her nomination they would be able to send it to the full Senate without Democratic support.
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https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/519266-mcconnell-signals-hes-open-to-confirming-supreme-court-pick-in-lame-duck
