--- title: McConnell: Senate May Review Supreme Court Nominee in 2020 description: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell indicated that a GOP Senate would take up a President Trump Supreme Court nomination in 2020. canonical: https://time.com/5418051/mitch-mcconnell-senate-trump-supreme-court-nomination-2020/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-10-07T17:12:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:03:58.559Z article:section: Politics og:title: Sen. McConnell: GOP Senate Could Take Up a Supreme Court Nomination in 2020 og:description: McConnell said 'we’ll see if there is a vacancy in 2020' og:url: https://time.com/5418051/mitch-mcconnell-senate-trump-supreme-court-nomination-2020/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltad3017c54c4e474f/69893c098fd2ee865f35ccfd/mitch-mcconnell-trump-supreme-court-2020.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4955 og:image:height: 2787 og:image:alt: mitch-mcconnell-trump-supreme-court-2020 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Sen. McConnell: GOP Senate Could Take Up a Supreme Court Nomination in 2020 twitter:description: McConnell said 'we’ll see if there is a vacancy in 2020' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltad3017c54c4e474f/69893c098fd2ee865f35ccfd/mitch-mcconnell-trump-supreme-court-2020.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Sen. McConnell: GOP Senate Could Take Up a Supreme Court Nomination in 2020 > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. 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It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=70ff1512-4be0-435a-9f85-2e4c94358b5c&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Mitch McConnell Is Confident Country Will Move Past Kavanaugh Fight [Watch (HLS stream): Mitch McConnell Is Confident Country Will Move Past Kavanaugh Fight](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/x3ygmKX2.m3u8) (1:31)  _Published 2018-10-06. Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Says Nomination Battle Good for Republicans_ by [Erik Wasson / Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Erik Wasson / Bloomberg Contributor Oct 7, 2018 5:12 PM UTC  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell walks off the Senate floor following the Senate confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh in the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on Oct. 6, 2018. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell walks off the Senate floor following the Senate confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh in the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on Oct. 6, 2018. SHAWN THEW—EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock by [Erik Wasson / Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Erik Wasson / Bloomberg Contributor Oct 7, 2018 5:12 PM UTC (Bloomberg) — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell indicated that a Republican Senate would take up a nomination to the Supreme Court made by President Donald Trump in 2020, the next presidential election year. McConnell blocked Democratic President Barack Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court in 2016, arguing at the time that voters should have a say in the matter in that year’s election. Garland wasn’t granted a hearing or a vote. Asked on “Fox News Sunday” if the same logic would apply in 2020, McConnell said “we’ll see if there is a vacancy in 2020.” The Kentucky senator then said that the tradition in the Senate since 1880 has been that a vacancy is not filled by a president in an election year — if the Senate is controlled by the opposing party. That appears to indicate the Garland rationale wouldn’t apply if a Republican president has a Republican Senate majority. ## Proudest Moment McConnell also said Saturday’s confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court is his proudest moment as a senator. “We stood up to the mob,” he said. “This has been an extraordinarily productive Congress.” In a separate appearance on CBS News’s “Face the Nation,” the majority leader predicted that the anti-Kavanaugh protests will backfire by energizing the Republican base in the Nov. 6 mid-term elections, in which the GOP is looking to hang on to its majorities in the House and Senate. A new CBS poll released on Sunday suggested the court battle may have hurt Democratic Senate hopes in states like Texas and Tennessee, where more voters wanted the Senate to confirm Kavanaugh than not. On the same program, McConnell chuckled when asked if Republicans will not campaign against West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin now that he voted for Kavanaugh — the only Democrat to do so. ## ‘Still a Democrat’ “Manchin is still a Democrat and we’re trying to hold onto our majority,” he said. McConnell also indicated he wouldn’t try to punish Alaskan Republican Lisa Murkowski for her vote against on Kavanaugh, saying she is a member of his conference in good standing. Trump, at a rally in Kansas on Saturday, called Murkowski’s vote “disgraceful.” McConnell predicted that the House and Senate will soon wrap up talks over a bill creating a new process for congressional employees to make sexual harassment and assault allegations against lawmakers. “That is something I know will get done before the end of the year,” he said on CBS. ## Transcript I always thought landslides were kinda boring anyway. [ LAUGH ] Had a chance to talk to Justice Kavanaugh and congratulate him on his victory, and also, the president. This is a good day for America, and an important day for the Senate. We stood up for the presumption of innocence. We refused to be intimidated by the mob of people that were coming after Republican members of their homes, in the halls. I couldn't be prouder of the Senate Republican conference. We also want to thank Senator Manchin for helping us. We finally discovered the one thing that would fire up the Republican base and we didn't think of it. The other side did it. The tactics that have been employed both by Judiciary committee democratic senators and by the virtual mob that's assaulted. All of us in the course of this process has turned our base on fire. I was talking to two of my political advisers yesterday about the advantage that these guys by their tactics have given to us Going into these red state competitive races. And we're pretty excited. They managed to deliver the only thing that we had not been able to figure out how to do, which was to get our folks fired up. The other side is obviously fired up, they have been all year ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5418051/mitch-mcconnell-senate-trump-supreme-court-nomination-2020/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5418051/mitch-mcconnell-senate-trump-supreme-court-nomination-2020/"},"headline":"Sen. 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