Senate Republican leader: No lame-duck hearing of court pick
The Columbian
Published: March 20, 2016, 11:13am
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Judge Merrick Garland, President Barack Obama's choice to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court, sits during a meeting with Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
WASHINGTON — No Supreme Court hearings, no votes, not during regular business or a postelection lame-duck session, the Senate’s majority leader made clear Sunday.
Sen. Mitch McConnell signaled no retreat or surrender from his firm stand to keep the court short-handed through at least January, scuttling the suggestion from at least one GOP colleague worried that a new Democrat in the White House — Hillary Clinton is the party’s front-runner — might nominate someone more liberal than President Barack Obama’s pick, federal appeals court judge Merrick Garland.
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