Obama to nominate Scalia replacement in about 3 weeks, says Harry Reid

A fierce political fight is brewing as the Democratic president prepares to name a successor to conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, who died on Saturday. But they argued that inconvenient as it may be for Obama, “the Constitution grants the Senate the power to provide – or as the case may be, withhold – its consent”.

As Justice Antonin Scalia’s demise has shown, death, personal wishes or illness can create court openings at any time. “He can either propose a nominee who can win over the majority in the Senate, or defer his choice to the voters, who in November will elect a new President and a new Senate, which will be responsible for confirming a nominee who will provide balance to the Supreme Court”.

Since Scalia’s death last Saturday in Texas, the burning question in Washington has been who is populating President Obama’s short list of potential nominees to replace Scalia’s seat on the nation’s highest court. But White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said the president does not yet have one.

In politically polarized Washington, Obama has already taken heat from Republicans for that decision – never mind that he is hardly the first president to skip the funeral for a Supreme Court justice, or that his GOP predecessor, George W. Bush, also is not attending the funeral.

“I don’t agree”, O’Connor, 85, told an Arizona television station.

“I think we need somebody there now to do the job”, she said, “and let’s get on with it”.

“If POTUS ignores precedent, I believe extraordinary circumstances give the Senate every right to deny the nominee an up or down vote”, Murkowski wrote, using an acronym for the president of the United States.

He was joined by Nevada Sen.

His baritone voice silenced and his mighty pen relinquished, Scalia will lie in repose all day and into the night so fellow justices, law clerks, Supreme Court employees and Americans who revered or simply respected him can pay homage.

The eight remaining justices convened in the Great Hall, along with Scalia’s family members, for a half-hour private ceremony that began when his casket arrived shortly before 9:30 a.m. Eight Supreme Court police officers carried the casket up the steps, which were lined with current and former court staffers.

Obama’s presence at public events requires a massive retinue of Secret Service agents and security measures, while Biden’s “security footprint” is a little bit lighter, Earnest said, noting the White House had sought a “respectful arrangement”.