Obama digs into research on potential Supreme Court picks

The President and Michelle Obama will pay respects on Friday, as Mr. Scalia’s body lies in repose at the Supreme Court. Like other Republicans, he has said that President Barack Obama, a Democrat, should not choose Scalia’s replacement.

Parts of the observances will be open to the public.

A private burial followed the funeral capping two days of public mourning for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

The last to arrive was Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a longtime family friend of Scalia, who once said they were an “odd couple” and he counted her as his “best buddy” on the bench. The justices then paused for a long moment of silence before leaving the hall; soon after, the line of mourners began moving through the hall.

Ted Cruz (R-Texas), center, and former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, upper left, take their seats for funeral Mass for Associate Justice Antonin Scalia inside the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

Vice President Joe Biden and current and former Supreme Court justices were among those who attended Saturday’s service.

Should an Obama nominee fail in the Senate, the court would operate with just eight members at least until the next president takes office in January and puts forward a nominee.

“Scalia was one of the great Supreme Court justices in history”, Turner said, while standing in line outside the court.

Obama phoned Senate leaders, including Republicans who have threatened to block any nominee made by the Democratic president to replace Scalia.

-Scalia’s casket was placed on a funeral bier first used after President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination.

The group includes some notables in the legal world, including former Solicitor General Paul Clement and Judge Jeffrey Sutton of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Appointed by Republican President Ronald Reagan in 1986, Scalia became known as a brilliant jurist in an era of conservative court dominance.

He tweets often, in the last week logging his various town hall visits and mentioning a North Korea sanctions bill – “U can’t trust the fat dictatr”, he tweeted – but he hasn’t said much about what his committee will do with Obama’s inevitable Supreme Court nomination. Pollsters also found 82 percent of Republicans would like the next president to appoint the replacement, while 77 percent of Democrats want Obama to make the appointment.

A large entourage of Scalia family members, including his widow, Maureen, was in attendance.

When pressed for clarification on Obama missing the funeral, White House press secretary Josh Earnest repeated that “the president will pay his respects at the Supreme Court on Friday and he’ll be joined with the first lady when he does that”.