On Tuesday, President Barack Obama met unsuccessfully with Republican leaders about choosing a nominee for the Supreme Court seat left vacant by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia Feb. 13.
Obama, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid met in the Oval Office for less than an hour, according to Reuters.
“Sen. Grassley and I made it clear that we don’t intend to take up a nominee or to have a hearing,” McConnell told reporters after the meeting, Reuters reports.
Obama is expected to name a replacement in the coming weeks, but Republicans have been adamant that any selection made by the president will not be confirmed. Instead, Republican leaders say they believe that Obama should leave the nomination to the next president.
“They think they are going to wait and see what President Trump will do, I guess, as far as the nomination is concerned,” Reid told the New York Times, referring to Donald Trump, the Republican presidential front-runner.
Reid noted that the president was willing to “consider candidates for the Supreme Court proposed by the Republicans, but McConnell and Grassley offered no names,” Reuters reports.
During a news conference at the Capitol, McConnell said, according to the Times: “We will look forward to the American people deciding who they want to make this appointment through their own vote.”
Read more at Yahoo! News and the New York Times.