President Trump said Monday that he would fill a Supreme Court vacancy if it opened up before the 2020 election.
“Would I do that? Of course,” Mr. Trump said to The Hill.
This could be seen as a reversal for the president, who supported Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s stonewalling then-President Obama’s nominee Merrick Garland nine months before the 2016 election.
Mr. McConnell stated at the time, “The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president.” He succeeded, and Mr. Trump nominated Neil Gorsuch instead.
When asked if it contradicts the handling of Merrick Garland’s nomination, Mr. Trump said it wasn’t the same because Republicans hold both the White House and the Senate.
“They couldn’t get him approved,” Mr. Trump said. “That’s the other problem because they didn’t have the Senate. If they had the Senate, they would have done it.
“It depends,” he said. “I mean, we have the Senate. We have a great Senate. We have great people. If we could get him approved, I would definitely do it. No, I’d do it a lot sooner than that. I’d do it. If there were three days left, I’d put somebody up hoping that I could get ’em done in three days, OK?”
The president added he has “a good list already chosen” to fill potential vacancies.
Mr. Trump isn’t the only person who has potentially reversed his stance on Supreme Court nominations.
When Mr. McConnell was asked in May whether his chamber would fill a vacancy during a presidential election year now, he said, “Oh, we’d fill it.”
• Victor Morton contributed to this story.
• Bailey Vogt can be reached at bvogt@washingtontimes.com.
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