My nominee will serve with integrity, Obama tells Senate

Obama urged the Republican-led US Senate to move forward on the nomination despite the rancour of Washington politics. 

Obama did not promise to nominate a moderate even as the Senate’s Republican leaders pledged to block any nominee the Democratic president selects. 

“The Constitution is pretty clear about what is supposed to happen now,” Obama, a former constitutional law professor, told a news conference at the close of a twoday meeting with leaders from Southeast Asia. “When there is a vacancy on the Supreme Court, the president of the United States is to nominate someone. The Senate is to consider that nomination,” and then either approve or reject the nominee, Obama added. 

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Saturday the vacancy should not be filled until Obama’s successor takes office in January so voters can have a say on the selection when they cast ballots in the November 8 presidential election. “There is more than enough time for the Senate to consider in a thoughtful way the record of a nominee that I present, and to make a decision,” Obama said. 

His nominee could shift the court’s balance of power. It had five conservatives and four liberals before Scalia’s death. 

“We’re going to find somebody who is an outstanding legal mind, somebody who cares deeply about our democracy and cares about rule of law,” Obama said, without giving any hints on who he might nominate or the specific timing. “I’m going to present somebody who indisputably is qualified for the seat, and any fair-minded person, even somebody who disagrees with my politics, would say would serve with honour and integrity on the court,” he added. 

Republicans control the Senate, which the US Constitution assigns responsibility for confirming a president’s nomination to the court. Republicans have opposed nearly all of Obama’s major initiatives during the first seven years of his presidency, and filling the court vacancy is shaping up as a monumental election-year fight.