The U.S. Senate will not confirm a Supreme Court nominee from President Barack Obama during his last year in office, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday.
In remarks on the Senate floor, McConnell acknowledged Obama's constitutional right to offer a replacement for the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who died earlier this month. But he said even Vice President Joe Biden, a Democrat, had argued back in 1992 for postponing action on Supreme Court nominees during an election year.
"Presidents have a right to nominate, just as the Senate has its constitutional right to provide or withhold consent. In this case, the Senate will withhold it," McConnell said.