Mitch McConnell

BALTIMORE (AP) - Maryland Rep. Elijah E. Cumming, who died Thursday at age 68, was remembered as a moral voice of conscience in a divisive era - a leader who fought for civil rights and took on the White House as a prominent figure in the impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump.

His widow, Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, chairwoman of Maryland's Democratic Party, said in a statement: "He worked until his last breath because he believed our democracy was the highest and best expression of our collective humanity and that our nation's diversity was our promise, not our problem."

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - U.S. Democratic Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner of Virginia have asked the Senate's Republican majority to delay voting on a Supreme Court nominee.

The Virginian-Pilot reports the two lawmakers asked Thursday for the vote to be delayed until after the Nov. 6 election. The two argued that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell should follow the precedent he set in 2016 when he refused to interview President Barack Obama's Supreme Court pick. McConnell said then that it was wrong to vote on a nomination nine months before a national election.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe is extending an invitation to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to visit a free health clinic for the state's poor later this week.

McAuliffe, a Democrat, said the Republican majority leader could hear firsthand stories from people who struggle to obtain adequate health care.

The governor has been critical of Republican efforts to repeal the "Obamacare" health law. McAuliffe's invite is his latest effort to draw attention to the issue. 

WASHINGTON (AP) - Sen. Tim Kaine is joining with most of his Democratic colleagues and says he will vote to filibuster President Donald Trump's choice of Judge Neil Gorsuch to serve on the Supreme Court.

The Virginia Democrat and vice presidential running mate last year for Hillary Clinton cited Gorsuch's opinion that employers have the right to deny government-mandated contraception coverage for their workers in explaining his opposition.

Kaine said such rulings "do not demonstrate a philosophy that belongs on the Supreme Court."

Senator Chris Coons says that the White House should nominate someone to the U.S. Supreme Court who is confirmable.

The Wilmington News Journal reports that the Delaware Democrat told reporters that the Senate should move forward with an appointment by President Obama to replace Justice Antonin Scalia who died earlier this month.

Even as Coons was responding to questions by reporters Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was on the floor telling his colleagues that no nominee should be considered until after the presidential election in November.