The unexpected death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has left the high court evenly divided in a hotly contested presidential election year. “I hope you will join us by signing the petition to stand with Senate Republicans as we hold our ground in waiting to confirm a new justice until after 2016, the time by which the American people will have chosen a new president and a new direction for our country”.
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“America needs Supreme Court justices who share Justice Scalia’s commitment to applying the Constitution as written and to the freedom it secures”. Judiciary Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, has said he’d wait to see who Obama selects before ruling out a hearing in his committee.
Given that we are in the midst of the presidential election process, we believe that the American people should seize the opportunity to weigh in on whom they trust to nominate the next person for a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court.
“The Constitution is pretty clear about what is supposed to happen now”, Obama, a former constitutional law professor, told a news conference at the close of a two-day meeting with leaders from Southeast Asia.
“No one disputes the president’s authority to nominate a successor to Scalia”, McConnell and Grassley wrote in The Washington Post.
Schmucker expects President Obama to nominate someone, and expect the Senate to vote.
In toss-up states with open Senate seats in November, several GOP senators said they would back McConnell in rejecting Obama’s nominee.
Republicans claimed precedent for ignoring court appointees from presidents on their way out the door. “They only care about getting their way and the American people are really exhausted of that message”.
Wrangling over replacing Scalia came as preparations were ramping up to honor the conservative firebrand’s life and legacy on the court.
The death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and the immediate response from Republicans that there would be no replacement allowed under this president has at least done one thing: it’s reminded the traditional media that Republicans have been blocking President Obama on his judicial nominations at an unprecedented rate.
Mr. Obama has summarily dismissed the notion that Republicans have constitutional grounds to refuse to vote on his nominee. The Senate returns from recess on February 22. “I think they’re intimidated by it. I think it’s the tail wagging the dog”, Biden said. “I have no desire, any more than George Mitchell did”.
The White House has ruled out choosing a liberal simply to fire up the Democratic Party base in a pivotal election year, suggesting Obama is looking for someone more moderate.
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“The fact that we’ve nearly grown accustomed to a situation that is nearly unprecedented, where every nomination is contested… even when there’s no ideological objection… certainly where there’s no disqualifying actions by the nominee that have surfaced…”
