WICHITA, Kan. (AP) – Kansas Rep. Mike Pompeo on Monday accused fellow Republican U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran of saying one thing in Kansas and another in Washington about filling a vacancy on the Supreme Court, prompting speculation that the House member could be planning a primary challenge against the incumbent senator.
Pompeo repeatedly evaded answering whether he is considering a primary challenge against Moran in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.
“We just never comment on campaign activities that we are engaged in,” Pompeo said.
The political firestorm started last week when Moran told a town hall in Cimarron, Kansas, that Republicans should hold a hearing on President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland, a position at odds with Senate Republican leaders who are refusing to do so. Republican leaders argue that the next president elected in November should nominate a replacement for the late Justice Antonin Scalia, who died suddenly in Texas. Conservatives cried foul at Moran and he backtracked, saying that after examining Garland’s record he no longer needed a hearing to decide he would oppose the nominee.
Early Monday, Pompeo issued a statement that harshly criticized his colleague in the Kansas Congressional delegation.