No. 2 GOP senator weighs in on potential SCOTUS hearing, 2016 election
The Senate's second-ranking Republican on Wednesday left open the possibility of a hearing for a Supreme Court nominee, and he also expressed concern that the eventual GOP presidential nominee could cost Republicans control of the Senate.
"It's entirely up to the chairman of the Judiciary Committee whether even to schedule a hearing on the president's nomination," Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, said on KSKY's "The Mark Davis Show," according to The Associated Press.
Cornyn, who is a former associate justice on the Texas Supreme Court, went on to say even if the nomination were to be reported out of committee, it's up to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, to schedule a floor vote.
On Tuesday, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, didn't rule out holding a hearing.
"I would wait until the nominee is made before I would make any decisions," Grassley told a group of Iowa reporters on a conference call, according to Radio Iowa. "In other words, take it a step at a time."
After news broke Saturday that Justice Antonin Scalia had suddenly died, McConnell said that the upper chamber should wait 11 months until the next president is sworn in until a nominee is confirmed.
On Tuesday, President Obama challenged Senate Republicans to hold a confirmation hearing and a floor vote to consider the "indisputably qualified" nominee he plans to appoint.
In a separate event on Wednesday after a meeting with district superintendents in Dallas, Cornyn said he didn't think having eight out of the nine justices of the court until 2017 was a big deal.
"The fact that the court has eight members is not an unprecedented thing," he said, according to The Dallas Morning News. "The court can certainly continue to hand down decisions, if it musters five votes for a particular outcome...If there is a deadlock, the court can hold that over until 2017, when a new justice is confirmed."
At the same event, Cornyn said he was "concerned" that the eventual GOP presidential nominee could lead to the loss of Republican control of the Senate.
"The top of the ticket could provide a tailwind to help our down-ballot candidates or create a headwind," Cornyn said. "I am concerned about that, but we're still pretty early in the process."
Asked if he was referring to Donald Trump or Sen. Ted Cruz, Cornyn refused to name a particular candidate and added that he would not be endorsing anyone in the race.
