Other Democrats are urging McConnell to wait until after the midterm elections this fall because he blocked President Obama’s nomination in 2016, citing the need to wait until that year’s presidential election was decided.
\"Senator McConnell set the new standard by giving the American people their say in the upcoming election before Court vacancies are filled. With so much at stake for the people of our country, the U.S. Senate must be consistent and consider the President’s nominee once the new Congress is seated in January,\" Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, said in a statement.
“I hope Sen. McConnell follows his own advice, that in a decision this large that touches so many people that he allows the voters to weigh in,” Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., added.
When asked if he thinks it's fair to bring up a Supreme Court nominee during an election year, after blocking Obama's nomination of Garland in 2016, McConnell told reporters: \"There's no presidential election this year.\"
ABC News' Trish Turner and Ali Rogin contributed to this report.
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