Dem Sen Whitehouse: ‘McConnell Rule’ Should Apply to Kennedy Successor

Wednesday on CNN’s “The Situation Room,” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) said since Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement is so close to 2018 midterms, Democrats should demand the standard set by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) when he blocked President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland citing the 2016 election.

When asked about delaying the nominee until after the midterm election, Whitehouse said that would “be consistent” with the McConnell rule.

He added, “There is as good a chance right now that Democrats will take the senate as there was that Donald Trump would win the election when McConnell made that promise. So in terms of giving the American people a chance to weigh in, if the Republicans were going to be consistent, they would have to follow the McConnell rule. In fact, the odds are probably greater of Democrats taking the senate than of Trump winning back at that point.”

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.