Scalia while on a weekend trip to Texas.
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Speaking to reporters from Rancho Mirage, where he is golfing this weekend with friends, Mr Obama paid tribute to Mr Scalia, who died earlier in the day in Texas.
Elizabeth O’Hara is a spokeswoman for the El Paso Catholic Diocese.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush was asked whether, if elected, he would have a “litmus test” for whom to nominate to the high court.
The resort sits in the middle of the Chihuahua Desert, 15 miles from Mexico, at the foot of the jagged Chinati Mountains and 150 miles southeast of El Paso.
On Saturday, the U.S. Marshals Service confirmed that Justice Antonin Scalia has died at the age of 79. “Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new President”, he said in a statement.
Saturday’s debate comes a week before South Carolina’s primary.
The nomination, Obama’s third of this tenure, fight in the Senate could determine the tenor of much of Obama’s final year in office – and ricochet through the campaign to replace him.
Obama has already promised to nominate a replacement.
“Clearly they have been unravelled by the results in Iowa, by our victory in New Hampshire and the progress we are making all over this country”.
“I plan to fulfill my constitutional responsibility to nominate a successor in due time”, said Obama in a brief statement.
Speaking during a televised debate, Republican frontrunner Donald Trump urged the Senate to “delay, delay, delay”.
McConnell’s Democratic counterpart Harry Reid pressed instead for Obama to send a nominee to the Senate “right away”. Obama said a nomination was “bigger than any one party”. He says it is about democracy.
“We’re not gonna give up the U.S. Supreme court for a generation by allowing Barack Obama to make one more liberal appointee”, Cruz said.
The liberal group MoveOn.org attacked McConnell, calling on the majority leader to “retract his shameful, partisan suggestion that the Senate abdicate its responsibility”.
Clinton is in the midst of a weekend campaign swing through Nevada. A confirmation process often takes more than two months, but could be drawn out longer by the Republican-led Senate.
Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz tweeted that Justice Scalia was an American hero.
Democrats immediately raised objections.
He added that “of course the president has every right to nominate Supreme Court justices”, but that “there should be a consensus-orientation” for that nominee.
Washington corridors are abuzz that Chandigarh born, 48-year-old Sri Srinivasan will be President Obama’s nomination to Supreme Court to replace Justice Antonin Scalia after his unexpected death Saturday.
“Justice Scalia was a brilliant jurist whose legal acumen, quick wit and persuasive writing style were respected by all”. He offered condolences to the Scalia family.
Democrats also argued that waiting for the next president in January 2017 would leave the court without a ninth justice for more than the remainder of Obama’s term as Senate confirmation would not be immediate.
Seen by many as a leader in conservatism, Scalia was the first Italian-American appointed to the top court and was known for interpreting the constitution exactly as worded, without taking modern context into consideration.
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U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell was among those in Washington state who responded to the news.
