Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell received a friendly reception from the board members of the House Freedom Caucus. | Getty McConnell: Not a 'snowball's chance in hell' I'll relent on SCOTUS

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told a group of staunch House conservatives there isn't "a snowball's chance in hell" that he will back down from his opposition to confirming a Supreme Court justice before a new president is elected.

The Kentucky Republican received a friendly reception from the board members of the House Freedom Caucus Tuesday evening. During a 45-minute meeting, the lawmakers expressed broad support for McConnell's position on the high court vacancy.


Senators and House members frequently address the board of the Freedom Caucus but this meeting, requested by McConnell, was the first chance he's had to do so.

Lawmakers focused almost solely on the Supreme Court nomination during the meeting, sources said.

McConnell's comments came after Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, the chairman of the Freedom Caucus, urged him to stay the course and not back down from a fight with the White House and Senate Democrats.

"There's not a snowball's chance in hell that's gonna happen," McConnell said, according to lawmakers in the meeting.

Idaho Rep. Raúl Labrador said the meeting underscored "the importance of having a Republican Senate."

