Republicans outnumber Democrats 11-9 on the Judiciary Committee, which would hold confirmation hearings and vote on whether to send the nominee to the full Senate.
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Vulnerable GOP incumbents in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, New Hampshire and OH – all states that Obama won twice – echoed McConnell’s contention that the victor of the presidency in November’s election should choose the next jurist. He said of the nation’s senators, “I expect them to do their job as well”. But his attention was divided at that conference.
He said the fight over Scalia’s replacement is ill advised, knocking Republicans for the planned delay.
“Senate Republicans continue to think that governing is as simple as being against President Obama at every turn”, said Sen. Democrats looking to reclaim the Senate majority immediately accused them of putting politics ahead of their constitutional responsibility. Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania said Obama has the authority to nominate, “but let’s be clear – his nominee will be rejected by the Senate”.
In New Hampshire, Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan criticized Ayotte and argued that Obama’s constitutional right to nominate isn’t suspended in his previous year in office.
“We’re going to find somebody who is an outstanding legal mind, somebody who cares deeply about our democracy and cares about rule of law”, Obama said, without giving any hints on who he might nominate or the specific timing. Years of bickering have left the public accustomed to a situation where “everything is blocked” – even when there’s no ideological or substantive disagreement, he said.
“This would be a good moment for us to rise above it”, he said. And all lower courts are bound by precedent; they need precedent to be able to adjudicate cases so if the Supreme Court isn’t giving you precedent in these high profile cases. “There’s no exemptions for when a vacancy could tip the balance of the court”, he said.
“There’s no unwritten law that says that it can only be done in off years. That’s not in the constitutional text”, he said. “I’m amused when I hear people who claim to be strict interpreters of the Constitution suddenly reading into it a series of provisions that are not there”.
“There is more than enough time for the Senate to consider in a thoughtful way the record of a nominee that I present, and to make a decision”, Obama said.
The Republican party is becoming more marginalized by the minute.
Obama on Tuesday would not tip his hand – much.
Obama’s dilemma arises, in part, because of the unusual timing.
The last time a Supreme Court justice was confirmed to the court during a president’s last year in office was 1988, when Justice Anthony Kennedy took his place on the court during President Ronald Reagan’s final year in the White House.
She added: “So, a message for Senate Republicans: Fill this vacancy”.
The court would be unable to issue rulings on any issue in which the justices split 4-4.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Monday referenced a report from the scene about Scalia’s body when asked on a radio show to comment on the possibility that Scalia may have been murdered and whether there should be an independent investigation into this death.
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Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s courtroom chair is draped…
