News / Politics

Obama to pick US Supreme Court justice next week: White House

Tuesday, 16 February 2016 3:48 PM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 16 February 2016 5:38 PM ]

White House Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz speaks during a briefing in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House on July 29, 2015 in Washington, DC. (AFP photo)

US President Barack Obama has started preliminary discussions with administration officials about naming a Supreme Court justice nominee following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, the White House has said.

Obama could nominate a successor to Scalia as soon as next week when the Senate returns from a week-long recess, White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz told reporters travelling with the president in Rancho Mirage, California for a summit of Southeast Asian leaders.

The death of Scalia has triggered political tensions in Washington as Republicans step up their attempts to block a move by Obama to nominate a successor.

Schultz accused Republican senators of "bluster" for saying they would not confirm his pick.

"As soon as the Senate returns, the president was very clear that he is going to fulfill his constitutional responsibility to nominate a successor to Justice Scalia," Schultz said.

Republicans, who are a majority in the Senate, say Obama should postpone naming a successor for the conservative-leaning Scalia, who died over the weekend, and leave it to the next president to decide.

Democrats, however, say it is the president's responsibility and right to make the choice.

Americans will select a new president in the November presidential elections. Obama leaves office in January 2017.

Schultz urged lawmakers to give Obama's eventual nominee a fair hearing and a timely vote and said there was clear precedence for the US Senate to confirm a Supreme Court justice during a presidential election year.

Republican lawmakers and presidential candidates have made clear they would not support an Obama nominee.

“This is not the first time that Republicans have come out with a lot of bluster, only to have reality ultimately sink in,” the White House spokesman said. “At each pass, they took a hard line. They tried to play politics. But ultimately, they were not able to back up their threats.”

Scalia, who died suddenly Saturday at the age of 79, was the court’s longest-serving member and the intellectual anchor in the Supreme Court's conservative wing.

Supreme Court Justices are nominated for life by the president and are confirmed by the Senate by majority vote.

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