President Obama to Skip Funeral for Justice Scalia

U.S. President Barack Obama can not pick “the most liberal jurist” to replace the late Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia, Vice President Joe Biden said Thursday, providing the first hint into the White House strategy on the matter.

The president added that there are plenty of months left for Senate Republicans to reconsider and allow him to nominate a new justice.

An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released Wednesday found 43 percent of those surveyed said the Senate should vote this year, while 42 percent said they should put off the whole exercise until the next president takes office in January.

“If we are following basic precedent, then that nominee will be presented before the committees; the vote will be taken; and ultimately, they’ll be confirmed”, Obama said.

“We’ve nearly gotten accustomed to how obstructionist the Senate’s become when it comes to nominations”, he said, riffing off nominations to various posts still pending in Congress. “Every nomination is contested, everything is blocked, regardless of how qualified the person is, even when there’s no ideological objection to them”.

Scalia’s body will lie in repose in the Supreme Court’s Great Hall on Friday, a day before his funeral service.

Cruz emphasized the partisan nature of the discussion around the nominee, saying the current fight wouldn’t “be fair to the nominee”. Republicans have argued that the president shouldn’t nominate anyone; O’Connor made clear the nominating choice is up to the president.

Bill Clinton attended two funerals of Supreme Court justices, but skipped three, including that of the legendary Thurgood Marshall, where he sent Al Gore.

Come November, at least five Republican senators will have to defend their seats from Democratic challengers in states that President Obama won – twice.

“I think that hearing would end up very politicized”, the Texas senator said. Among the names of potential candidates circulating in Washington corridors is Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval – a Republican who supports abortion rights – although it would be unusual for Obama to nominate a candidate from the opposite party.

“I don’t agree. I think we need somebody there now to do the job, and let’s get on with it”, she said. Welcome to an election year that just got a major dose of crazy-politics steroids.