Obama Vows to Nominate Scalia's Successor to the Supreme Court

Hours after Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s death President Barrack Obama said Saturday night that he will fulfill his constitutional responsibility and nominate a successor to the bench.

Obama said honoring the constitution is “bigger than one political party,” and something he takes very “seriously.” Obama said Scalia dedicated his life to the rule of law, and was a “remarkable man” who should be mourned.

Immediately after news surfaced of Scalia’s sudden death, top Democrats and Republicans battled over whether Obama or the next president should select a successor.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Republican Presidential candidates Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz said the next president should name a successor, while leading Democrats including Hillary Clinton and Sen. Harry Reid called on Obama to select a successor “right away.”

McConnell said, “The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new President.”

Clinton said to leave the seat vacant would serve as a “dishonor” to the constitution.

“The senate has a constitutional responsibility here that it cannot abdicate for partisan political reasons,” Clinton said in a statement late Saturday.

Republican Presidential Frontrunner Donald J. Trump called the death of Scalia a “massive setback for the Conservative movement and our COUNTRY!” in a post on Twitter.

Trump added that “Scalia was a remarkable person and a brilliant Supreme Court Justice, one of the best of all time.”

“His career was defined by his reverence for the Constitution and his legacy of protecting Americans’ most cherished freedoms. He was a Justice who did not believe in legislating from the bench and he is a person whom I held in the highest regard and will always greatly respect his intelligence and conviction to uphold the Constitution of our country,” Trump said.

Reid called Scalia a “brilliant man” even though he disagreed with many of his opinions. Reid said President Obama should select a successor “right away.”

“With so many important issues pending before the Supreme Court, the Senate has a responsibility to fill vacancies as soon as possible,” Reid said. “It would be unprecedented in recent history for the Supreme Court to go a year with a vacant seat. Failing to fill this vacancy would be a shameful abdication of one of the Senate’s most essential Constitutional responsibilities.”

Chief Justice John Roberts released a statement on behalf of all the justices and expressed sadness at Scalia’s passing calling him an “extraordinatory individual and jurist, admired and treasured by his colleguares.”

“His passing is a great loss to the Court and the country he so loyally served. We extend our deepest condolences to his wife Maureen and his family,” Roberts said in the statement.

Cruz said on Twitter, “Today our Nation mourns the loss of one of the greatest Justices in history – Justice Antonin Scalia. Justice Scalia was an American hero. We owe it to him, (and) the Nation, for the Senate to ensure that the next President names his replacement.”’

Democratic Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders issued a statement saying, “While I differed with Justice Scalia’s views and jurisprudence, he was a brilliant, colorful and outspoken member of the Supreme Court. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and his colleagues on the court who mourn his passing.”

Former President George W. Bush in a statement said, “Laura and I mourn the death of a brilliant jurist and important American, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. He was a towering figure and important judge on our Nation’s highest court. He brought intellect, good judgment, and wit to the bench and he will be missed by his colleagues and our country.

“Laura and I sent our heartfelt sympathies and condolences to his wife, Maureen, their 9 children and the entire Scalia family,” Bush added.

U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-NY, expressed sadness at Scalia’s sudden death adding that while he “disagreed with him on so many issues, Justice Scalia was a brilliant man with a probing mind. He was a great son of Queens with a genuine joy for life,” according to the New York Times.

Rubio said, “Today, our nation has suffered a deep loss. Justice Scalia was one of the most consequential Americans in our history and a brilliant legal mind who served with only one objective: to interpret and defend the Constitution as written...

The next president must nominate a justice who will continue Justice Scalia’s unwavering belief in the founding principles that we hold dear...,” Rubio said.

Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said Scalia made history as the first Italian American named to the Supreme Court.

“Through this community, I saw his pride in his heritage and, more importantly, his dedication to his beautiful family,” Pelosi said. “Whether or not you agreed with him, Justice Antonin Scalia served our nation with deep patriotism and distinction on the Supreme Court for nearly 30 years.

“He has been one of the strongest voices in the great American debate around our Constitution. He leaves behind a formidable record of jurisprudence, and a fierce articulation of his understanding of the Constitution,” Pelosi added.

Current House Speaker Paul Ryan, a Republican, said Scalia should be remembered as someone who worked tirelessly to “advance originalism and judicial restraint than anyone in our time, and it all started with just two words: ‘I dissent.’

“The passing of this brilliant jurist is a great loss, but his writings—with their plain language and constitutional moorings—will guide generations to come,” Ryan said, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich said the next president and not Obama should select Scalia’s successor.

“We owe it to his memory to ensure that he not be replaced by a left-wing #Obama nominee. The next president should pick his successor,” Gingrich said, while adding that “Justice Scalia was a giant of American jurisprudence. His views, often dissenting, destroyed the pretension of left-wing efforts to eliminate the American system of constitutional law.”

We’ll keep updating this story with more reaction. Please keep refreshing for more updates.

Patch file photo.