AP Success - AP U.S. Gov & Pol: Concept Application: Checks and Balances on Presidential Power in Judiciary

On February 13, 2016, conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died while vacationing in Texas. His passing left an opening on the Supreme Court. Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell stated the same day that the Senate would not consider a replacement for Scalia until after November’s presidential election.

Despite McConnell’s warning, Democratic President Barack Obama nominated Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court. Judge Garland had served in the federal court system in 1997. 

Senator McConnell refused to bring Garland’s candidacy to a vote. Garland’s candidacy expired on January 3, 2017, at the end of the Congressional term. The Senate confirmed Republican President Donald Trump’s nomination to the Supreme Court, federal appeals Judge Neil Gorsuch, on April 10, 2017.