Mitch McConnell

====Under Trump====
{{See also|Donald Trump Supreme Court candidates|Donald Trump judicial appointment controversies}}

In January 2017, Republican president [[Donald Trump]] nominated Neil Gorsuch to fill the Supreme Court vacancy left after Scalia's death.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-picks-colo-appeals-court-judge-neil-gorsuch-for-supreme-court/2017/01/31/2b08a226-e55e-11e6-a547-5fb9411d332c_story.html|title=Trump picks Colo. appeals court judge Neil Gorsuch for Supreme Court|last=Barnes|first=Robert|date=January 31, 2017|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=February 1, 2017|archive-date=February 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170201013448/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-picks-colo-appeals-court-judge-neil-gorsuch-for-supreme-court/2017/01/31/2b08a226-e55e-11e6-a547-5fb9411d332c_story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Gorsuch's nomination was confirmed on April 7, 2017, after McConnell eliminated the filibuster on Supreme Court nominees.<ref>{{cite news |first1=Adam|last1=Liptak |author-link=Adam Liptak |first2=Matt|last2=Flegenheimer |title=Neil Gorsuch Confirmed by Senate as Supreme Court Justice |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/07/us/politics/neil-gorsuch-supreme-court.html |access-date=April 15, 2017 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=April 8, 2017 |page=A1 |archive-date=April 29, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190429054521/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/07/us/politics/neil-gorsuch-supreme-court.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

On July 18, 2018, with [[Andy Oldham]]'s Senate confirmation, Senate Republicans broke a record for largest number of [[Appellate court|appeals court]] judiciary [[List of federal judges appointed by Donald Trump|confirmations during a president's first two years]]; Oldham became the 23rd appeals court judge confirmed in Trump's term.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Platoff |first1=Emma |title=Senate confirms a top Abbott adviser, Andrew Oldham, to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals |url=https://www.texastribune.org/2018/07/18/andrew-oldham-governor-greg-abbott-adviser-confirmed-5th-circuit/ |website=The Texas Tribune |date=July 18, 2018 |access-date=July 18, 2018 |archive-date=July 18, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180718234602/https://www.texastribune.org/2018/07/18/andrew-oldham-governor-greg-abbott-adviser-confirmed-5th-circuit/ |url-status=live }}</ref> McConnell said he considers the judiciary to be the item of Trump's first two years with the longest-lasting impact on the country. The record for the number of [[circuit court]] judges confirmed during a president's first year was broken in 2017, while the previous two-year record took place under President [[George H. W. Bush]], and included 22 nominations.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Carney |first1=Jordain |title=Senate GOP poised to break record on Trump's court picks |url=https://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/397287-senate-gop-poised-to-break-record-on-trumps-court-picks/ |website=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]]|date=July 16, 2018 |access-date=July 18, 2018 |archive-date=July 17, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180717143906/http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/397287-senate-gop-poised-to-break-record-on-trumps-court-picks |url-status=live }}</ref> By March 2020, McConnell had contacted an unknown number of judges, encouraging them to retire prior to the 2020 election.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/2020/03/16/mitch-mcconnell-urging-judges-retire-ahead-2020-election/5060303002/|work=Louisville Courier Journal|title=Mitch McConnell is quietly urging federal judges to retire ahead of 2020 election|author=Bailey, Phillip M.|date=March 16, 2020|access-date=September 18, 2020|archive-date=November 20, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201120195810/https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/2020/03/16/mitch-mcconnell-urging-judges-retire-ahead-2020-election/5060303002/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/16/us/politics/mcconnell-judges-republicans.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|title=McConnell Has a Request for Veteran Federal Judges: Please Quit|author=Hulse, Carl|date=March 16, 2020|access-date=September 18, 2020|archive-date=October 18, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201018083419/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/16/us/politics/mcconnell-judges-republicans.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage|url-status=live}}</ref> He confirmed [[List of federal judges appointed by Donald Trump|260]] federal judges over the course of Trump's four-year term, [[Judicial appointment history for United States federal courts|shifting the federal judiciary]] to the [[Right-wing politics|right]].

[[File:Mitch McConnell meets with Brett Kavanaugh and Mike Pence.jpg|thumb|McConnell (left) with then-Judge [[Brett Kavanaugh]] (middle), the nominee to replace retiring Justice [[Anthony Kennedy]], and vice president [[Mike Pence]], 2018]]
In July 2018, President Trump nominated Brett Kavanaugh to replace the retiring [[Anthony Kennedy]] as an associate justice of the Supreme Court. McConnell accused Democrats of [[Donald Trump judicial appointment controversies|creating an "extreme" distortion]] of Kavanaugh's record during his hearing process.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/396687-mcconnell-accuses-dems-of-trying-to-bork-kavanaugh/|title=McConnell accuses Dems of trying to 'bork' Kavanaugh|date=July 12, 2018|first=Jordain|last=Carney|newspaper=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]]|access-date=November 7, 2018|archive-date=November 7, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181107145130/https://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/396687-mcconnell-accuses-dems-of-trying-to-bork-kavanaugh|url-status=live}}</ref> In September 2018, [[Christine Blasey Ford]] publicly alleged that she had been sexually assaulted by Kavanaugh in 1982. After a report came out of Democrats' investigating a second allegation against Kavanaugh, McConnell said, "I want to make it perfectly clear.&nbsp;... Judge Kavanaugh will be voted on here on the Senate floor."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/408144-mcconnell-promises-senate-vote-on-kavanaugh/|title=McConnell promises Senate vote on Kavanaugh|author=Carney, Jordain|date=September 24, 2018|newspaper=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]]|access-date=September 18, 2020|archive-date=August 13, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200813203259/https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/408144-mcconnell-promises-senate-vote-on-kavanaugh|url-status=live}}</ref> Kavanaugh was confirmed on October 6.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/06/politics/kavanaugh-final-confirmation-vote/index.html|title=Brett Kavanaugh confirmed to Supreme Court|first=Clare|last=Foran|date=October 7, 2018|work=[[CNN]]|access-date=November 7, 2018|archive-date=November 6, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181106191954/https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/06/politics/kavanaugh-final-confirmation-vote/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/06/us/politics/brett-kavanaugh-supreme-court.html|title=Kavanaugh Is Sworn In After Close Confirmation Vote in Senate|first=Sheryl Gay|last=Stolberg|date=October 6, 2018|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=September 18, 2020|archive-date=September 13, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200913140833/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/06/us/politics/brett-kavanaugh-supreme-court.html|url-status=live}}</ref> McConnell afterward admitted the confirmation process was a low point for the Senate, but also downplayed reports of dysfunction in the Senate; he said claims that the Senate was "somehow broken over this [were] simply inaccurate".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://thehill.com/homenews/sunday-talk-shows/410289-mcconnell-simply-inaccurate-that-senate-is-broken-after-kavanaugh/|title=McConnell: 'Simply inaccurate' that Senate is broken after Kavanaugh fight|first=Brett|last=Samuels|date=October 7, 2018|newspaper=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]]|access-date=November 7, 2018|archive-date=November 7, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181107185229/https://thehill.com/homenews/sunday-talk-shows/410289-mcconnell-simply-inaccurate-that-senate-is-broken-after-kavanaugh|url-status=live}}</ref>

In October 2018, McConnell said if a Supreme Court vacancy were to occur during Trump's 2020 re-election year he would not follow his 2016 decision to let the winner of the upcoming presidential election nominate a justice. He noted that in 2016 the Senate was controlled by a party other than the president's&nbsp;— and argued that for that reason, the 2016 precedent was not applicable in 2020, when the presidency and Senate were both controlled by Republicans.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/mcconnell-signals-he-would-push-to-fill-a-supreme-court-vacancy-in-2020-despite-2016-example/2018/10/08/75ee6fce-cb2a-11e8-a360-85875bac0b1f_story.html|title=McConnell signals he would push to fill a Supreme Court vacancy in 2020 despite 2016 example|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|author=Viebeck, Elise|language=en|date=October 9, 2018|access-date=October 12, 2018|archive-date=October 12, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181012094421/https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/mcconnell-signals-he-would-push-to-fill-a-supreme-court-vacancy-in-2020-despite-2016-example/2018/10/08/75ee6fce-cb2a-11e8-a360-85875bac0b1f_story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In September 2020, following the death of [[Ruth Bader Ginsburg]], he announced the Senate would vote on Trump's nominated replacement.<ref>{{Cite web|work=[[CNN]]|first1=Clare|last1=Foran|first2=Manu|last2=Raju|first3=Ted|last3=Barrett|title=McConnell vows Trump's nominee to replace Ginsburg will get Senate vote, setting up historic fight|url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/18/politics/congress-fight-rgb-seat/index.html|date=September 19, 2020|access-date=September 19, 2020|archive-date=September 19, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200919012142/https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/18/politics/congress-fight-rgb-seat/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref> On October 23, 2020, McConnell set in place the Senate debate for the confirmation of [[Amy Coney Barrett]] to fill Ginsburg's seat. Barrett was confirmed on October 26, 2020.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mcconnell-senate-cloture-vote-amy-coney-barrett-nomination-watch-live-stream-today-2020-10-23|title=Senate takes up Barrett nomination|work=[[CBS News]]|access-date=October 23, 2020|archive-date=October 23, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023200630/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mcconnell-senate-cloture-vote-amy-coney-barrett-nomination-watch-live-stream-today-2020-10-23/|url-status=live}}</ref>