Saturday, February 13, 2016 marked the sudden death of Supreme Court Justice, Antonin Scalia, 79, who was said to have died from natural causes in Shafter, Texas. As listed in the Constitution of the United States of America, it is within the current President’s power to appoint a replacement Justice in a timely fashion. Yet there is controversy revolving around President Barack Obama appointing the next Justice or leaving the decision up to the next president, with the Republican controlled Senate at the helm of the talk. The opinions of the Senate were recorded in a poll taken by the New York Times; of the 46 Democrats in the Senate, they unanimously say that President Obama should appoint the replacement, and of the 54 Republicans, 31 of which declare that he should not; including their voice in that opinion on the Republican side are presidential candidates Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, who vow to stand in the way of any such decision. Senate Republicans have repeatedly stated their stance on when to appoint a new Justice. It seems as though the appointment may be left to the next presidential candidate to decide with the Senate Republicans’ promise to turn down any suggestion from President Obama. Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee stated, “Under our Constitution, the president has the right to nominate, but the Senate has the right to decide whether to consent at this point in a presidential election year.”
Presidential candidate, Hillary Rodham Clinton, disagrees on the matter. In a debate hall, she states, "It is outrageous that Republicans in the Senate and on the campaign trail have already pledged to block any replacement that President Obama nominates." President Obama, despite the repetitive stances from the Senate, pushes forward, and states that he will nominate a successor in a timely fashion, and urges the Senate to "not play politics" with the Supreme Court. Who is being considered for the nomination? Check out a few of the possible candidates summed up by the National Public Radio here.
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