“After all, if political matters were relevant to senatorial consideration it might be suggested that a constitutional amendment be introduced giving to the Senate rather than the president the right to nominate Supreme Court justices”, he said.
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How interesting is it that the two most vocal politicians objecting to Republican opposition to a Supreme Court nomination both voted to filibuster an earlier one?
Scalia’s body will lie in repose in the Supreme Court’s Great Hall on Friday, a day before his funeral service.
Although the White House hasn’t publicly disclosed any candidates Obama is considering, he’s expected to look closely at a number of circuit court judges – including some that meet the benchmark that Biden laid out. Either way, he said, the nominee wouldn’t get confirmed unless Obama chooses a “Scalia clone”. With a 4-4 split between liberals and conservatives, an appointee by President Barack Obama would tilt the court left for decades. The Senate must confirm any Supreme Court nominee.
“The Constitution is pretty clear about what’s supposed to happen now”, Obama said before returning to Washington from California.
Obama said in a press conference Tuesday that he plans to nominate someone who is “an outstanding legal mind, somebody who cares deeply about our democracy and cares about rule of law”. Obama’s administration has said it will nominate a new justice before the presidential election.
In a subsequent email, Neal Patel, Heller’s communications director, said the senator does not want Obama to announce a nomination. Only 27 percent believe it’s likely the Senate will approve a candidate Obama puts forth; 69 percent think it’s unlikely.
“[My father] would have been the first to tell you”, Scalia continued, “that we’re from dust, we return to dust, your life could be taken from you at any instant”. “And we just need to hold that position, and I’m confident we can”.
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She added that an opening on the Supreme Court in an election year is an unusual occurrence, calling it “unfortunate”. Although they disagreed on several issues while in the Senate together, Truman and Burton worked closely on a special committee to investigate government war-time waste that was chaired by then-Sen. Ultimately, Obama’s pick will determine a lot of the politics behind how each party handles this in the Senate. He said he’d pick someone that would pass muster for honor and integrity even among ideological opponents. “Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president”, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said shortly after the news of Scalia’s death.
