WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama is challenging Republicans to live up to their avowed adherence for the Constitution and agree to vote on his nominee to replace late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. A key Republican is leaving the door open to taking the first step.
Despite widespread Republican insistence that he leave the decision to the next president, Obama said he had no intention of abdicating his responsibilities before leaving office early next year. He chidingly told the Senate he expects "them to do their job as well."
"The Constitution is pretty clear about what's supposed to happen now," Obama said late Tuesday before returning to Washington from California.
The stakes are particularly high because Scalia's replacement could tip the ideological balance of the court. Scalia's death leaves the court evenly divided between four liberal-leaning judges appointed by Democratic presidents and four-conservative-learning judges appointed by Republican presidents. The U.S. Constitution provides that any nominee put forth by Obama for the high court must be confirmed by the Senate, where Republicans currently have a 54-46 majority.
With the looming nomination creating ripples in the presidential campaign, Obama sought to broaden his argument by calling the dispute emblematic of years of escalating partisan hostilities over judicial nominations. He lamented a new normal in which "everything is blocked" even when there's no ideological or substantive disagreement - and conceded that Democrats are not blameless
Court officials said Scalia's body will lie in repose on Friday in the Supreme Court's Great Hall, after a private ceremony. The funeral mass Saturday will take place at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said he doesn't think Obama should put a candidate forward. The Kentucky senator joined several Republicans up for re-election in declaring that Obama should let voters in November weigh in on the direction of the court through their vote for president.
The pace of judicial confirmations always slows in presidential election years thanks to reluctance by the party out of power in the White House to give lifetime tenure to their opponents' picks. In the past, lawmakers have sometimes informally agreed to halt hearings on lower court nominations during campaign season. But Obama argued that "the Supreme Court's different."
The White House has been looking for cracks in the Republicans' opposition as it deliberates on a nominee, and Grassley's remarks to home-state reporters offered the first signs of hope.
If Republicans indicate they may hold hearings, Obama would have greater reason to name a "consensus candidate," a moderate nominee that Republicans would be hard-pressed to reject. If there's virtually no chance of Republicans bending, Obama might pick a more liberal nominee who galvanizes Democratic support and fires up interest groups in the election year.
If Senate Republicans hold fast to their vow not to confirm anyone Obama nominates, the Supreme Court will operate with eight justices not just for the rest of this court term, but for most of the next one as well. High court terms begin in October, and the 80 or so cases argued in the course of a term typically are decided by early summer.
The court would be unable to issue rulings on any issue in which the justices split 4-4. Such split decisions would leave in place lower court rulings but not set any precedents.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Despite widespread Republican insistence that he leave the decision to the next president, Obama said he had no intention of abdicating his responsibilities before leaving office early next year. He chidingly told the Senate he expects "them to do their job as well."
"The Constitution is pretty clear about what's supposed to happen now," Obama said late Tuesday before returning to Washington from California.
The stakes are particularly high because Scalia's replacement could tip the ideological balance of the court. Scalia's death leaves the court evenly divided between four liberal-leaning judges appointed by Democratic presidents and four-conservative-learning judges appointed by Republican presidents. The U.S. Constitution provides that any nominee put forth by Obama for the high court must be confirmed by the Senate, where Republicans currently have a 54-46 majority.
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With the looming nomination creating ripples in the presidential campaign, Obama sought to broaden his argument by calling the dispute emblematic of years of escalating partisan hostilities over judicial nominations. He lamented a new normal in which "everything is blocked" even when there's no ideological or substantive disagreement - and conceded that Democrats are not blameless
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Court officials said Scalia's body will lie in repose on Friday in the Supreme Court's Great Hall, after a private ceremony. The funeral mass Saturday will take place at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington.
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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said he doesn't think Obama should put a candidate forward. The Kentucky senator joined several Republicans up for re-election in declaring that Obama should let voters in November weigh in on the direction of the court through their vote for president.
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The pace of judicial confirmations always slows in presidential election years thanks to reluctance by the party out of power in the White House to give lifetime tenure to their opponents' picks. In the past, lawmakers have sometimes informally agreed to halt hearings on lower court nominations during campaign season. But Obama argued that "the Supreme Court's different."
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The White House has been looking for cracks in the Republicans' opposition as it deliberates on a nominee, and Grassley's remarks to home-state reporters offered the first signs of hope.
If Republicans indicate they may hold hearings, Obama would have greater reason to name a "consensus candidate," a moderate nominee that Republicans would be hard-pressed to reject. If there's virtually no chance of Republicans bending, Obama might pick a more liberal nominee who galvanizes Democratic support and fires up interest groups in the election year.
If Senate Republicans hold fast to their vow not to confirm anyone Obama nominates, the Supreme Court will operate with eight justices not just for the rest of this court term, but for most of the next one as well. High court terms begin in October, and the 80 or so cases argued in the course of a term typically are decided by early summer.
The court would be unable to issue rulings on any issue in which the justices split 4-4. Such split decisions would leave in place lower court rulings but not set any precedents.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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