AFP, Rancho Mirage, United States, 14 February 2016 – President Barack Obama vowed Saturday to nominate a U.S. Supreme Court justice candidate to replace the late Antonin Scalia, asking the Republican-led Senate to give his nominee a “fair hearing and a timely vote,” but republicans say they should wait until new government has occupied the White House.
“These are responsibilities that I take seriously as should everyone. They’re bigger than any one party. They are about our democracy.”
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, a fiery conservative who helped shape American legal thought, died Saturday. He was 79.
Scalia, the longest-serving justice on the high court, died in his sleep while on a hunting trip in Texas, local media reported.
Scalia was first appointed to the highest court in the land in 1986 by President Ronald Reagan, making him the first Italian-American to serve there.
The process to nominate and confirm his replacement will be acrimonious at best, with his death coming in the final year of a Democratic president’s tenure facing a highly divided, Republican-held Congress.
The process will likely have a major impact on the 2016 presidential campaign.
Indeed, the Republican majority in Congress could block any nomination during the final months of President Barack Obama’s tenure, delaying the process until the next president.
That means the court could be short-handed for about a year or more, with the next president not due to be sworn until next January.