Schumer: I’ll ‘absolutely’ work to keep Supreme Court vacancy open

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) says he plans to fight against President-elect Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee unless he picks someone Democrats could support.

“We are not going to settle on a Supreme Court nominee,” Schumer said Tuesday in an interview on MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow.

“If they don’t appoint someone who’s really good, we’re gonna oppose him tooth and nail.”

{mosads}Schumer made clear that Democrats will not “make it easy for them to pick a Supreme Court justice.”

“It’s hard for me to imagine a nominee that Donald Trump chooses that would get Republican support that we could support.”

Asked by Maddow whether he would do his best to hold the seat open, Schumer replied: “Absolutely.”

After Justice Antonin Scalia’s death in February, President Obama nominated Merrick Garland to replace him on the Supreme Court. But Senate Republicans blocked him, refusing to hold hearings or votes. 

“The consequences are going to be down the road,” Schumer said of the GOP’s decision to block Obama’s nominee.