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Mitch McConnell Says He Would Fill A Potential Supreme Court Vacancy In 2020

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday he would fill a Supreme Court vacancy in 2020, a reversal from a position he held four years ago.

McConnell spoke to a local business gathering in Paducah on Tuesday. He was asked by an attendee if he would hold hearings for a Supreme Court Justice nominee in 2020 if there was a vacancy. McConnell’s response got some laughter.

"We'd fill it," he said. "The reason why I started with the judges, as important as all the other things we're talking about -- if you want to have a long-lasting positive impact on the country, everything else changes."

McConnell in 2016 refused to appoint Barack Obama’s nominee, Merrick Garland, to the Supreme Court in Obama's last year in office, angering Hill Democrats. McConnell cited the right of voters in the next presidential election to decide whether a Democrat or a Republican would fill the seat.

2020 is the last year of President Trump's first term. If a vacancy were to arise on the Supreme Court, a reelected Trump or a new president would be able to nominate a judge to fill the vacancy.

"Liam Niemeyer is a reporter for the Ohio Valley Resource covering agriculture and infrastructure in Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia and also serves Assistant News Director at WKMS. He has reported for public radio stations across the country from Appalachia to Alaska, most recently as a reporter for WOUB Public Media in Athens, Ohio. He is a recent alumnus of Ohio University and enjoys playing tenor saxophone in various jazz groups."
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