The Senate majority leader, Republican Mitch McConnell, made a statement on Wednesday reaffirming that his party will not confirm any supreme court nominee put forward by Barack Obama and will instead observe what he called the ‘Biden rule’ of delaying to allow the next president, due to be elected in November, to make the decision. Obama announced DC court of appeals judge Merrick Garland as his choice to join the supreme court panel in a speech on Wednesday morning