Why is Obama skipping Scalia’s funeral?

“It’s been 80 years since the Senate has confirmed a Supreme Court nominee who was nominated during an election”, Cruz said.

“The Supreme Court can function with eight justices”, Rubio said after acknowledging that he respected O’Connor but thought the next president, whether it be a Democrat or Republican, should pick Scalia’s successor.

“I think we ought to be able to find a consensus candidate that meets that criteria”, Biden said during a taping of “The Rachel Maddow Show” in St. Paul, Minn.

Now the White House is saying that the president “regrets” that decision, but still maintains that the Republican opposition is somehow different and unprecedented.

“We need a clearer way to call out inconsistent originalism, or as Scalia called it, an ‘originalism of convenience, ‘” Lessig wrote, adding that he doesn’t see an obvious originalist argument for how Texas Sen.

His death set the stage for a political showdown between the Democratic president and Republicans in the U.S. Senate who are threatening to block any nominee put forward by Obama to fill Scalia’s vacancy.

“I think what’s fair to say is that how judicial nominations have evolved over time is not historically the fault of any single party”, Obama said. “President, ‘ I said, ‘Yours is to propose, mine to dispose.’ I said, ‘You tell me who you have in mind, I’ll give you an honest answer what their chances are in my view'”.

“For the sake of our nation and decency, I hope it isn’t politics keeping President Obama from the funeral”, said Fox News anchor Greta Van Susteren.

Some Republican senators have urged their leaders to at least allow the customary Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings to proceed on any Obama nominee. Speculation on who President Barack Obama might choose began immediately.

Scalia’s casket is due to be carried up the white marble courthouse’s grand staircase by Supreme Court police officers.

In the week that followed, presidential candidates and senators debating the legitimacy of President Obama’s constitutional right to appoint a replacement (and what candidates will be on his shortlist). He was 79 years old and the longest-serving justice on the high court.