Obama censures GOP senator over Scalia replacement
US President Barack Obama has lashed out at Republican senators over threats not to hold a vote on his nominee for the Supreme Court of Justice.
At a press conference in California on Tuesday, the US president censured the idea that they should wait for the next president to enter the White House, calling such a move unconstitutional.
After Justice Antonin Scalia died on Saturday, “the Constitution is pretty clear about what is supposed to happen now," Obama said. "When there is a vacancy on the Supreme Court, the president is to nominate someone, the Senate is to consider that nomination and either they disapprove of that nominee or that nominee is elevated to the Supreme Court.”
The Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee reiterated the GOP stance earlier in day, saying there were yet no plans to hold a vote on a nominee.
“I would wait until the nominee is made before I would make any decisions. ... In other words, take it a step at a time," Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said.
Obama noted, however, that his pick would be “indisputably qualified,” suggesting that the lawmakers’ move is illegal.
“I’m amused when I hear people who claim to be strict interpreters of the Const suddenly reading into it a whole series of provisions that are not there,” Obama said. "I am going to present somebody who indisputably is qualified for the seat and any fair minded person, even somebody who disagreed with my politics, would say would serve with honor and integrity on the court.”
Replacing Scalia with a Democrat-appointed justice could change the balance of the court under Chief Justice John Roberts, and would mean the election of the president could immediately determine the direction of the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court, where Scalia (pictured above) was a passionate conservative voice, has twice upheld major provisions of Obama’s Affordable Care Act and also legalized gay marriage in all 50 states.
A poll, conducted last year during Scalia’s 29th year as a justice, found that 32 percent of Americans are unaware of who Scalia is.
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