White House says Obama will not attend Justice Scalia’s funeral

Scalia’s casket was to remain at the Supreme Court until early Saturday. Trump, who heads into the upcoming SC primary and Nevada caucus with leads of 18.5 and 13 points, respectively, called Scalia’s death “pretty unusual” during a broadcast of The Savage Nation with host and conservative commentator Michael Savage. They were greeted by Roberts and met a few of Scalia’s family members before spending a moment at the coffin and then at the late justice’s official portrait.

-Scalia’s funeral is planned for Saturday morning at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington.

With Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s unexpected death on Saturday, the fate of America’s highest court has suddenly become the biggest question of the 2016 election.

Among those passing through the Great Hall were members of the federal appeals court on which Scalia served before joining the Supreme Court, including two judges mentioned as possible replacements.

The Rev. Paul Scalia, the justice’s son and a Catholic priest, said traditional prayers at a private ceremony before thousands of people filed through the court’s Great Hall, where Scalia’s casket lay on a funeral bier first used after President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. Obama pledged to nominate a candidate “indisputably” qualified, but Republican leaders have threatened to refuse to hold hearings or a vote on his pick to replace the conservative Scalia. The Senate must confirm any nominee.

With the looming nomination creating ripples in the presidential campaign, Obama sought to broaden his argument by calling the dispute emblematic of years of escalating partisan hostilities over judicial nominations.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other GOP leaders have said a replacement should not be named until the next president takes office.

The White House said the president and first lady Michelle Obama will pay their respects during the day.

It is the responsibility of the president of the United States to nominate a justice to fill the empty seat, and it is the responsibility of the Senate to vote on it, as Hillary Clinton so eloquently put it. The fact that this is an election year does not change those facts.

Biden’s remarks came amid growing signs that some Republicans were softening their stance about considering Obama’s nominee.