The Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee says Democrats are making a "preposterous suggestion" that a replacement for Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy should wait until after the midterms.
Senate Republicans in 2016 refused to consider then-President Barack Obama's court nominee, Merrick Garland, because it was a presidential election year. President Donald Trump filled the seat with Neil Gorsuch in 2017.
Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa says Republicans followed the 1992 suggestion of then-Sen. Joe Biden not to consider a nominee in the middle of a presidential race. But he says, that "doesn't include every election year."
Grassley says he plans to follow the schedule used for other Supreme Court nominees. Once the president submits his nominee, he says he looks forward to holding a hearing in "upcoming weeks."ump's selection, Democrats can do little to stop it. Republicans have a 51-49 majority in the Senate, which changed its rules last year to allow a simple majority vote for Supreme Court confirmations.
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