WaPo:

Facing the increasing prospect of a Hillary Clinton presidency, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) sought to lay the groundwork for denying Democrats a crucial fifth vote on the United States Supreme Court well past Inauguration Day in January.

According to a Republican insider, who asked for anonymity in order to speak frankly about internal political strategy, the increasing chances of a Donald Trump Republican nomination and a loss to Democrats in November has led to new strategies for delay. “McConnell’s pitch is going to be this: we’ve already said that the next Supreme Court appointment is so crucial to our country that we should let the people vote before making such a crucial decision. And while it’s true we’ll be choosing a president and one-third of the Senators in 2016, the other two-thirds won’t be chosen until 2018 and 2020. Only after these votes is it fair to consider whether to confirm a president’s nominee.”

After the Supreme Court’s 4-4 deadlock in a case last week involving the power of public sector unions, everyone recognizes the stakes of who controls the Supreme Court could not be higher. According to the insider, McConnell told fellow Republican senators that he agreed with Donald Trump on one thing: “Delay, delay, delay.“