Mr. Obama has chose to skip the funeral; Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden will attend it instead.
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The ceremonies began in below-freezing weather Friday morning when eight Supreme Court police officers carried Scalia’s flag-draped casket up the steps and into the Great Hall.
The confirmation of a Supreme Court justice should not be taken lightly and deserves careful consideration and open debate. It is Obama’s responsibility to appoint a new justice, as laid out clearly in Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution, according to the U.S. News article. Among them were several mentioned as possible successors: Judges Sri Srinivasan and Patricia Millett and Chief Judge Merrick Garland, all of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
The series of apparent U-turns illustrated the turmoil in the Republican Party about how to handle the unexpected death of Scalia, a conservative stalwart. Even as the late Supreme Court justice is remembered, some want to install term limits for future justices.
The death of Justice Scalia, 79, gives Mr. Obama a chance to replace the conservative stalwart with a more liberal successor who could tilt the ideological balance of the court for decades to come.
Appearing on MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” on Thursday, Biden said, “The Senate does have a right to have a say in who and what the philosophy of the nominee is”.
The Obamas, both dressed in black, walked slowly into the hall and stood by the casket – flanked by an honor guard of the justice’s former clerks -for about a minute.
Republicans have not been tight-lipped about their ideas surrounding the president’s appointment strategy since the courts have now shifted from leaning conservative to being split evenly 4-4, conservative and liberal.
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President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama paid their respects Friday afternoon, but were not expected to attend the funeral Mass, which was scheduled to be celebrated Saturday at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington. Obama and Democrats are hoping an overreaction by Republicans will prompt a political backlash that could galvanize support for Obama’s nominee and also invigorate Democratic voters in the November elections. It was the site of the 2010 funeral of Gen. Alexander M. Haig Jr., who served as secretary of state to President Ronald Reagan, and the 2008 funeral for Tony Snow, the TV news anchor who served as a press secretary to President George W. Bush.
