Republican threats complicate Obama replacing Scalia on court

Justice Scalia was a remarkable person and a brilliant Supreme Court Justice, one of the best of all time.

The sudden and unexpected death Saturday of Justice Antonin Scalia gives President Obama an unprecedented opening to shift the balance of the Supreme Court – setting up a potentially seismic battle with Congress in the waning days of his presidency.

Soon after news of Scalia’s death surfaced, McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, called for the vacancy to be filled after Obama’s presidency ends.

Antonin Scalia, the influential conservative and most provocative member of the Supreme Court, has died. But the Senate is also required to confirm. He won confirmation by a 98-0 vote, becoming the first Italian-American justice.

But these are scarcely such times.

The White House issued a statement offering condolences to Scalia’s family but did not immediately provide any hint about whether Obama planned to nominate a replacement.

“He could be belligerent, he was obviously very candid about he felt about things”, said Joan Biskupic, a USA Today reporter who wrote a biography of Scalia.

The senators who will play the biggest role in determining whether Obama can get a nominee through are Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley – both Republicans.

Cruz, of course, hopes that next president will be himself. Within minutes on Saturday, Republican lawmakers and conservative legal experts were demanding that the vacancy last until the next president is elected. Ted Cruz (R-TX) made it clear Republicans would obstruct an Obama nominee and using his death to drive home the stakes of the 2016 election. Even under ideal circumstances, this would be hard to imagine. The job of confirming Supreme Court nominees falls to the Senate.

Two years later, The Boston Herald reported that Scalia employed an obscene hand gesture while leaving a church in response to another question about his impartiality.

The Justice’s wry humour often courted controversy. Second, it begins (and probably concludes its) next term (beginning in October 2016) with no more than eight. He was an enthusiastic singer at court Christmas parties and other musical gatherings, and once appeared on stage with Ginsburg as a Washington Opera extra.

But what happens when the court is short-handed by one?

An outspoken lion of the conservative movement – as revered on the right as he was castigated by the left – Scalia was a reliable vote for the conservative cause, on gun rights, on property rights, on religious freedom and more.

These could include the crucial matters of abortion access, affirmative action in college admissions and the executive actions of the president on immigration and greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.

When there is a 4-4 tie, now a distinct possibility this spring, the result is basically to affirm the lower court decision before the case came to the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court is down to eight members and must move forward with a heavy caseload with that number. On a major issue, the high court would be likely to rehear the case once it had its full membership.