(CNN) Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell left open the possibility of confirming a Supreme Court nominee in 2020 if Republicans still control the chamber and there's a vacancy on the court, marking a shift over how he treated then-President Barack Obama's nominee in 2016.

Speaking to both Fox News and CBS News on Sunday, McConnell would not rule out seeking to confirm a nominee if there is a Supreme Court vacancy in the final year of President Donald Trump's first term in 2020, assuming the GOP holds onto the Senate in this November's midterms. McConnell instead seemed to suggest that presidents don't get Supreme Court nominees confirmed in a presidential election year — if the Senate is controlled by the opposite political party.

"You have to go back to 1880 to find the last time a Senate controlled by a party different from the president filled a vacancy on the Supreme Court that was created in the middle of a presidential election year," McConnell said on Fox News. "That's been the history,"

Asked directly if he would allow a nominee to be confirmed in 2020, McConnell repeatedly sidestepped the question.

"The answer to your question is we will see if there's a vacancy in 2020," he said.

Read More