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WASHINGTON (AP) — Justice Antonin Scalia's death is already sparking a heated election-year fight over whether President Barack Obama should try to fill the court vacancy. Republicans on Capitol Hill and on the campaign trail insist the choice should fall to the next president.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says "The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court justice." As he puts it, "this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president."
His position is being echoed by a pair of senators seeking the GOP presidential nomination: Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio.
Senate Democrats are making it clear they expect President Barack Obama to nominate a new justice and that they'll work vigorously to keep Republicans from dragging out the confirmation process.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid says "It would be unprecedented in recent history for the Supreme Court to go a year with a vacant seat," adding that, "failing to fill this vacancy would be a shameful abdication of one of the Senate's most essential constitutional responsibilities."
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