Sen. Dick Durbin Richard (Dick) Joseph DurbinFeinstein 'surprised and taken aback' by suggestion she's not up for Supreme Court fight Grand jury charges no officers in Breonna Taylor death Democrats shoot down talk of expanding Supreme Court MORE (D-Ill.) on Sunday ripped Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellFEC flags McConnell campaign over suspected accounting errors Poll: 59 percent think president elected in November should name next Supreme Court justice Mark Kelly: Arizona Senate race winner should be sworn in 'promptly' MORE (R-Ky.) for his handling of Supreme Court nominees, saying the Republican has used the court "to play to his political advantage."

Durbin, the second-ranking Democrat in the Senate, laid into McConnell on NBC's "Meet the Press" for refusing to meet with former President Obama's Supreme Court nominee in 2016 because it was an election year.

Durbin called McConnell's stance hypocritical, given the Kentucky Republican's pledge to vote on President Trump Donald John TrumpBiden on Trump's refusal to commit to peaceful transfer of power: 'What country are we in?' Romney: 'Unthinkable and unacceptable' to not commit to peaceful transition of power Two Louisville police officers shot amid Breonna Taylor grand jury protests MORE's nominee to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy ahead of this year's elections.

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"Sen. McConnell invented this new rule and wouldn’t even consider a meeting with Merrick Garland. And now he’s saying that we’ve got to hurry through here and get this done before the election," Durbin said.

"Totally inconsistent. He’s either wrong the first time or wrong the second time," he continued. "The net result is he’s trying to play to his political advantage."

Sen. Christopher Coons Christopher (Chris) Andrew CoonsMurkowski: Supreme Court nominee should not be taken up before election Battle lines drawn on precedent in Supreme Court fight Sunday shows - Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death dominates MORE (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, on Sunday accused Republicans of playing by "different rules" under Trump than they did under Obama.

"I don’t think we should be having this conversation, because we seem to be playing different rules with different presidents," Coons said on CBS's "Face the Nation." His remarks came in response to a question about whether he would support one of Trump's Supreme Court picks.

He added, however, that he is willing to meet with Trump's eventual nominee and review his or her record.

Durbin sought to lay out the stakes for the coming confirmation battle in the Senate, noting that the next Supreme Court justice could serve as a swing vote on the fate of the Affordable Care Act or Roe v. Wade.

"Beyond the procedure, beyond the gamesmanship, it is a life-and-death important decision to be made by this court on so many issues," Durbin said.

Democrats are outnumbered 51-49 in the Senate, leaving them largely powerless to stop a nominee on their own. A handful of Democrats may face pressure to confirm Trump's pick because they face reelection in states Trump won in 2016.

Durbin on Sunday would not say that every Democrat would oppose the nominee, given it has not yet been announced, but disputed that senators will vote with reelection bids in mind.

Trump is scheduled to announce his pick to replace Kennedy on Monday night. He conducted interviews last week with at least seven candidates.