McConnell: "Highly unlikely" he would allow Biden to fill Supreme Court vacancy in 2024

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told radio host Hugh Hewitt on Monday that it is "highly unlikely" a Supreme Court nominee picked by Biden would be confirmed in 2024 if Republicans take control of the Senate.

Why it matters: A record number of judges, plus three Supreme Court justices, were confirmed under Trump. Democrats have pledged to "restore the balance" of the courts.

What they're saying: Hewitt asked if McConnell would block Biden from filling a 2024 Supreme Court vacancy as he blocked Obama from replacing the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

• "Well, I think in the middle of a presidential election, if you have a Senate of the opposite party of the president, you have to go back to the 1880s to find the last time a vacancy was filled," McConnell said.
• "So I think it’s highly unlikely. In fact, no, I don’t think either party if it controlled, if it were different from the president, would confirm a Supreme Court nominee in the middle of an election. What was different in 2020 was we were of the same party as the president."