President Obama said Saturday that he would submit a nomination to replace Scalia, who died unexpectedly that morning, because it’s his constitutional responsibility.
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Senator Harry Reid, the top Democrat in the chamber, called the move to delay the confirmation “unprecedented”.
As news spread of the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, the tributes swiftly turned political, with lawmakers and others addressing the implications of a High Court vacancy during a presidential election year.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia addresses an audience at Rhodes College, Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2015 in Memphis, Tenn.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said hours after Scalia’s death was announced that the high court vacancy should not be filled until Obama’s successor takes office next January so that voters can have a say in the selection.
Sanders, who now serves in the Senate and presumably would vote on a presidential nominee to the Court, addressed his fellow lawmakers from across the aisle.
Indian-American judge Sri Srinivasan may be nominated to the US Supreme Court which would make him the first from the community to achieve the feat.
Not that the pressure would ever be strong enough to lead Congress to confirm Obama’s nominee, or even vote on that person. When he wasn’t considered or when she wasn’t considered for a nomination for the Supreme Court.
The president said the decision was about democracy and “the institution to which Justice Scalia dedicated his professional life, and making sure it continues to function as the beacon of justice that our founders envisioned”.
Leading Democrats have expressed their eagerness for a new judge to be appointed soon.
The vacancy was the opening topic at the Republican presidential debate in Greenville, South Carolina, late on Saturday with several candidates calling on the Senate to block any nominee sent up by the White House. The Republican candidates were unanimous in saying Obama should put off a decision.
McConnell mourned the loss of “an unwavering champion of a timeless document that unites each of us as Americans”, referring to Scalia’s fidelity to the US Constitution.
He was one of the most prominent proponents of so-called originalism – a conservative legal philosophy that believes the US Constitution has a fixed meaning and does not change with the times.
In 2008, Scalia wrote the majority opinion in District of Columbia v. Heller, stating citizens did, in fact, have a constitutional right to own a gun, which resulted in the striking down of Washington DC’s ban on handguns.
Scalia was a dependable conservative vote on the bench, opposing gay marriage, abortion and expanded healthcare. Justice Anthony Kennedy was confirmed to the Supreme Court in 1988, at the end of President Reagan’s second term.
The next Justice could shift the balance of power and that’s why finding a replacement is expected to be a big issue this election year.
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Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz took to Twitter to say “we owe to him [Scalia] and the nation” to hold-off on appointing his replacement.
