Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on Wednesday said the Senate would vote to fill retiring Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy’s seat “this fall.”
“The Senate stands ready to fulfill its constitutional role by offering its advise and consent on President Trump’s nominee to fill this vacancy,” McConnell said from the Senate floor.
“We will vote to confirm Justice Kennedy’s successor this fall,” he said.
He added:
As in the case of Justice Gorsuch, senators will have the opportunity to meet with President Trump’s nominee, examine his or her qualifications and debate the nomination. I have every confidence in Chairman Grassley’s conduct of the upcoming confirmation process in the Judiciary Committee. It’s imperative that the President’s nominee be considered fairly and not subjected to personal attacks. Thus far President Trump’s judicial nominations have reflected a keen understanding of the vital role the judges play in our constitutional order. Judges must interpret the law fairly and apply it evenhandedly. Judicial decisions must not flow from judges’ personal philosophies or preferences, but from an honest assessment of the words and actual meaning of the law. This bedrock principal is clearly defined in the president’s excellent choices to date. So we’ll look forward to yet another outstanding selection, but today the Senate and the nation thank Justice Kennedy for his years of service on the bench and for his many contributions to jurisprudence and to our nation.
