Mourners pay respects to late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia

Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama are expected to pay their respects at the court sometime Friday.

Biden, who was a long-time chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in an interview that Obama has asked for his advice on who to choose, and believes the president will choose a “consensus candidate”. The Kentucky Republican and several Republicans up for re-election have maintained that voters in November’s presidential election should have a say in the direction of the nation’s highest court.

Hundreds of people lined the streets in front of the Supreme Court on Friday as the body of the late Justice Antonin Scalia was brought to the court to lie in repose in the Great Hall.

‘I don’t have a sense of what the president’s plans are for Saturday, ‘ Earnest said after a reporter suggested it would be bad form for him to go golfing, a favorite weekend activity of Obama’s.

While the justices have their bitter debates and occasional flare-ups, the statements they released this week reflected the deep respect they had for Scalia. “I’m no constitutional scholar, but I think when you look at history for the past 50 years, he was the first ardent voice to stand up against the radical left-wing court”.

If Senate Republicans hold fast to their vow not to confirm anyone Obama nominates, then the Supreme Court will operate with eight justices not just for the rest of this term, but for most of the next one as well.

When active Supreme Court Chief Justice Justice William Rehnquist passed away in 2005, then-President George W. Bush attended the ceremony and gave a tribute to the Republican-appointed judge.

If anything, the debate has highlighted the importance of the Supreme Court and the people selected to sit on its bench, he said.

For Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to say the vacancy should not be filled until a new president is elected is preposterous.

She said Obama should name a replacement for Scalia, an influential conservative member of the nation’s high court who was found dead Saturday at age 79. Scalia was also close with Justice Clarence Thomas, who shares his belief that the Constitution’s should be interpreted as it was understood by those who drafted it. Scalia taught Kagan, a self described city girl, how to hunt. The country is going through enough political turmoil at the moment, so having the Supreme Court be thrown into unrest over the petty desires of the Republican Party is frustratingly cold-hearted.

However, Scalia changed his tune and his tone when the President whose powers were being challenged was named Obama.