John Cornyn: “I yield the floor, Mr. President. The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Alexander). The Senator from Kentucky. Supreme Court…”

“I yield the floor, Mr. President. The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Alexander). The Senator from Kentucky. Supreme Court Nominees Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I listened with interest this morning to the remarks of our Democratic colleagues. They talked about a potential Supreme Court vacancy. While we have no knowledge of the occurrence of such a vacancy at this time, our friends implored the White House to consult with them in selecting a Supreme Court nominee. It is on this subject that I wish to make a few observations in the event such a vacancy were to occur. From time to time, Senators may suggest to a President who he should nominate to the Federal bench. Sometimes Presidents agree with the suggestions and sometimes they do not. This White House has observed this practice, and I believe it will continue to do so. But we should not confuse the solicitude that any President may afford the views of individual Senators on a case-by-case basis with some sort of constitutional right of 100 individual Senators to co-nominate persons to the Federal court. Unfortunately, I am afraid our Democratic friends are under a misapprehension that they have some sort of individual right of co- nomination. In the past, our colleague Senator Schumer has said that in his view--in his view--the President and the Senate should have ``equal roles'' in picking judicial nominees.…”