Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s death – in the final year of a Democratic administration – may presage a significant shift at the U.S. Supreme Court, where he arguably was the most conservative member.
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White House deputy press secretary Eric Schultz repeated Monday that the president intends to “fulfill his constitutional responsibility” by nominating a new justice and predicted that Senate Republicans, despite their current loud opposition, will ultimately hold a confirmation hearing and vote for the nominee.
“I believe that the President should nominate and the Senate should follow its constitutional obligation and advise and consent on the nomination”, Manchin said.
Justice Antonin Scalia’s courtroom chair on Tuesday was draped in black to mark his death as part of a Supreme Court tradition that dates to the 19th century.
Obama made the remarks Tuesday during a California news conference at the conclusion of his summit meetings with leaders of Southeast Asian nations in Rancho Mirage, California.
For the GOP primary battle, all the candidates agree that the next president, not Obama, should make the nomination, but this issue might help Ted Cruz the most.
Obama took a swipe at Republicans by saying he was amused to hear some in the party describe themselves as “strict interpreters” of the Constitution but dispute the idea that he has the right to get a hearing for a Supreme Court nominee.
Influential and polarizing as Scalia was in political circles, it’s easy to forget that the Supreme Court remains an opaque mystery to many Americans.
“The court can function with eight, there’s no law that says there has to be nine”, Lopez said.
“I intend to do my job between now and January 20 of 2017”, Obama said. But the Republican-held Senate is not expected to confirm an Obama appointee.
Cain is referring to Sri Srinivasan, a D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals judge appointed by Obama and confirmed by the Senate three years ago on a unanimous vote of 97 to 0 – a pick that could paint Republicans into a corner.
But while the White House officials have done extensive planning for possibly having to fill a third Supreme Court seat, those plans envisioned candidates to fill the seat of a retiring liberal justice, such as Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Mendoza explained that the norm in the past several decades was to avoid nominating someone to the Court in the six months before a presidential election, so nominating a replacement for Scalia would fall within recent norms.
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Here, conservatives will have a strong retort: Not only was Anthony Kennedy nominated in 1987 – not 1988 – but the only reason he was nominated at all was because Democrats had rejected the nomination of Robert Bork a year earlier. There are enormous, bedrock issues regarding individual rights and the role of government that sit at the marble steps of the U.S. Supreme Court, awaiting action. “We are not going to get another Scalia. Whether that will be enough for McConnell to relent, I don’t know”, Pagano said. But, she added, “if the president tries to pack the court, as it is apparent he may, then the network will be leading the charge to delay a Senate vote until the American people decide the next president”.
