'Take Back the Senate:' Democrats Tease Plan of Fighting Back Against Trump If They Win the Midterms
Democrats are ready to use McConnell's precedent if they win the Senate.
Oct. 5 2026, Published 7:50 p.m. ET
The Democrats may already have a plan in mind to seek revenge on President Donald Trump if they win the midterms, RadarOnline.com has learned.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said a Democratic Senate would not put another Trump justice on the court, and no seat is open.
Democrats Would Follow Mitch McConnell's Precedent
Mitch McConnell's precedent has changed the Supreme Court nomination process.
Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., said Democrats should do to a Supreme Court nominee from Trump what former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell did to Merrick Garland.
Gallego told a publication, "We've got to do exactly what McConnell did to us," and said Democrats should at least "even the scales."
Schumer said one reason to take back the Senate is "not let Trump put such horrible justices, MAGA justices, on the Supreme Court and the lower courts."
Blumenthal, a senior Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said the chance of supporting a nominee from this administration is "slim to none," because the pattern has been "a politician in robes who is following Trump's orders on most major questions."
Mitch McConnell Blocked Barack Obama's Supreme Court Nominee
Merrick Garland eventually served as U.S. attorney general during the Biden administration.
Justice Antonin Scalia died on February 13, 2016, and President Barack Obama nominated Garland, then chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, on March 16.
McConnell refused a hearing and a vote, arguing the seat should wait for the next president, and the nomination sat for 293 days.
Trump nominated Neil Gorsuch the next year, and a Republican Senate confirmed him.
Four years later, the precedent set by McConnell was not followed by Republicans when Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died on September 18, 2020, and the Senate confirmed Amy Coney Barrett on October 26, eight days before the election.
Chuck Schumer Wants to Block Trump's Nominations
Schumer has his eyes set on Trump's nominees.
Schumer has also said that if Trump's nominees are "as crappy as his present ones, very few of them are going to get through," and that another Pete Hegseth would not pass a Democratic Senate.
Committee chairs can bottle up a nomination, and the majority leader can decline to call a vote.
Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said a Democratic Senate "will without any question block every single one of President Trump's nominees," including Cabinet members and judges.
Senate and Supreme Court Math
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Justice Samuel Alito considered retiring, but is now back for at least another year.
Democrats need a net gain of four seats to take the Senate in the 2026 midterm elections.
Justice Samuel Alito, 76, said this year that he had considered retiring and decided to stay, while Justice Clarence Thomas, 78, the court's oldest member, has not announced a departure either.
A new appointment would be Trump's fourth Supreme Court justice, after Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Barrett.
