Supreme Court nominee would be indisputably qualified: Obama

“The Constitution is pretty clear about what’s supposed to happen now”, Obama said before returning to Washington from California.

“The president and the first lady on Friday will travel to the Supreme Court to pay their respects to Justice Scalia as he lies in repose there are the Supreme Court”, Earnest said.

On Tuesday, President Obama challenged Senate Republicans to hold a confirmation hearing and a floor vote to consider the “indisputably qualified” nominee he plans to appoint.

Speaking before the full Utah House of Representatives on Tuesday, Hatch said that “the most contentious presidential election in latter days” was reason enough for the decision to wait. His nominee could shift the court’s balance of power.

Wrangling over replacing Scalia came as preparations were ramping up to honor the conservative firebrand’s life and legacy on the court.

Obama then acknowledged that Scalia’s replacement would become a deciding vote for the Supreme Court, which is now ideologically split 50-50.

Asked if he thought the controversy over filling the court vacancy might endanger his re-election chances this fall, Grassley said, “I think I have a responsibility to perform and I can’t worry about the election”. For 25 years, she played a mostly centrist, pragmatist role on the bench – often breaking from Republican ideology and siding with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on women’s issues.

Sen. Ted Cruz, the Texan who has practiced before the high court and is seeking the Republican presidential nomination, has vowed to filibuster any nominee. “Now, this would be a good moment for us to rise above that”.

Grassley has offered mixed messages since Scalia’s death on how the Senate should proceed on the vacancy, alternating hardline views on blocking any nominee with comments not ruling out hearings. “You shouldn’t assume anything about the qualifications of the nominee other than they’re going to be well-qualified”, he said.

During the early 1990s, Lessig was a clerk for Scalia, who was himself appointed to the Supreme Court in 1986.

If no replacement is confirmed, 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.

The funeral for Scalia is scheduled for Saturday, at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington.

“The American people‎ should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice”. Black wool crepe hung over the entrance, and Scalia’s courtroom chair was draped in black.