http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/269595-obama-scolds-gop-over-supreme-court-stance By Jordan Fabian - 02/16/16 05:31 PM EST
President Obama slammed Republican senators on Tuesday for threatening to not hold a vote on any pick he makes to replace the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.
Obama scolded Republicans in his toughest comments to date on the issue, arguing "that's not how the system is supposed to work."
“The Constitution is pretty clear about what is supposed to be happen now," Obama said in remarks at a press conference in California.
"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,” Obama said. “Historically, this has not been viewed as a question, there is no unwritten law that says it can only be done on off years.”
Republican leaders have said Scalia's replacement should be left to the next president, and not Obama. They argue that by waiting out the election, voters would effectively have a say in who replaces Scalia.
Obama and Democrats have responded that Obama remains president, and that it would be a deriliction of duty for the Senate to not consider an Obama nominee.
The partisan fight over Scalia's successor emerged within hours of the news of his death. The stakes are high, since Scalia's replacement could tilt the court to the left or the right.
Obama sounded exasperated during the press conference, noting that Senate Republicans have routinely stalled on his judicial nominations to lower courts “regardless of how qualified the person is.”
“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,” he said.
He said he understood that Republicans were "under a lot of pressure, but added a long delay to the next president is "not how the system is supposed to work, that’s not how our democracy is supposed to work.”
The president also offered his first glimpse into the criteria he would use to choose a nominee, saying there would be no ideological litmus test for candidates.
"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,” he said.
