Possible nominees to replace Antonin Scalia on the United States Supreme Court

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On March 16, 2016, President Barack Obama announced Merrick Garland as his nominee to fill the late Justice Antonin Scalia's seat on the United States Supreme Court.[1] At the time of his nomination, Garland was serving as chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He joined the court in 1997 after being nominated by former President Bill Clinton.[2]

In 2010, Garland was considered a front-runner for nomination to the Supreme Court of the United States following the retirement of Justice John Paul Stevens. Justice Elena Kagan was chosen instead.[3]

Justice Scalia died on February 13, 2016, at 79 years of age. A member of the U.S. Supreme Court for three decades, Scalia was considered "a champion of originalism" and the dominant conservative voice of the Court.[4][5]

His unexpected death created a vacancy in the Supreme Court. Several members of the U.S. Senate quickly made public comments on whether President Barack Obama (D) should nominate a replacement. U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said, "The American people deserve to have a fully functioning Supreme Court. The Supreme Court of the United States is too important to our democracy for it to be understaffed for partisan reasons. It is only February. The president and the Senate should get to work without delay to nominate, consider and confirm the next justice to serve on the Supreme Court.”[5]

Some leading Republicans suggested that the individual elected to the presidency in November 2016 should have the right to make the nomination. U.S. Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said in a statement: "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."[6] A spokesperson for U.S. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), Conn Carroll, tweeted, "What is less than zero? The chances of Obama successfully appointing a Supreme Court Justice to replace Scalia?"[7]

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) charged, "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."[8]

Republican response

A number of Senate Republicans said they would not consider any Obama nominee. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) stated that the Senate should wait until after the presidential election before filling the vacancy. He said voters should have a say in choosing Scalia's replacement, and that meant choosing a new president to nominate a new Supreme Court justice.[9]

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) agreed. He said:

“ The fact of the matter is that it’s been standard practice over the last nearly 80 years that Supreme Court nominees are not nominated and confirmed during a presidential election year. Given the huge divide in the country, and the fact that this president, above all others, has made no bones about his goal to use the courts to circumvent Congress and push through his own agenda, it only makes sense that we defer to the American people who will elect a new president to select the next Supreme Court justice.[9][10] ”

That sentiment was also expressed by Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas).[11]

Nomination

On March 16, 2016, President Barack Obama nominated Judge Merrick Garland of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to succeed Justice Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court of the United States.[12][13]

Vetted candidates

The names below were reported by various news outlets as individuals that the White House was vetting as a potential nominee to replace Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court.

Possible nominees

The names below were floated by politicians and news outlets as possible individuals whom President Obama could select as his nominee to replace Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court.

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ NPR, "President Obama To Announce Merrick Garland As Supreme Court Nominee," accessed March 16, 2016
  2. ↑ United States Court of Appeals District of Columbia Circuit, "Merrick B. Garland," accessed August 22, 2013
  3. ↑ Los Angeles Times, "Profiles of three possible successors to Justice John Paul Stevens," April 10, 2010
  4. ↑ The New York Times, "Justice Antonin Scalia, Who Led a Conservative Renaissance on the Supreme Court, Is Dead at 79," February 13, 2016
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 The Hill, "Justice Antonin Scalia dead," February 13, 2016
  6. ↑ CNBC, "U.S. Senate leader McConnell says wait on replacing Scalia," February 13, 2016
  7. ↑ The Huffington Post, "Conservatives Quickly Refuse Any Obama Court Replacement After Antonin Scalia's Death," February 13, 2016
  8. ↑ Talking Points Memo, "Harry Reid To Republicans: You Better Not Block Us From Replacing Scalia," February 13, 2016
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 The Washington Times, "Republicans rule out replacing Antonin Scalia until new president is elected," February 13, 2016
  10. ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  11. ↑ Huffington Post, "Conservatives Quickly Refuse Any Obama Court Replacement After Antonin Scalia's Death," February 13, 2016
  12. ↑ ABC News, "President Obama to Nominate Merrick Garland for Supreme Court," March 16, 2016
  13. ↑ The White House, "Nomination sent to the Senate," March 16, 2016
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 The New York Times, "Three more judges said to be vetted for Supreme Court," March 4, 2016
  15. ↑ National Law Journal, "Source: D.C. Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson Vetted for Scalia Seat," February 26, 2016
  16. ↑ The New York Times, "White House is said to be vetting Iowa judge for Supreme Court seat," March 2, 2016
  17. ↑ National Public Radio, "President Obama meets with Supreme Court candidates," March 9, 2016
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 18.4 18.5 18.6 18.7 18.8 18.9 USA Today, "Who could replace Scalia? Here are 10 names," February 14, 2016
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 19.4 19.5 New York Times, "Potential Supreme Court Nominees," February 14, 2016
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 20.4 20.5 20.6 Vox, "Who will Obama choose to replace Antonin Scalia? Here are 7 of the strongest candidates," February 14, 2016
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 21.4 Politico, "Obama's Supreme Court short list," February 14, 2016
  22. ↑ AZ Central, "Advocate: Arizona judge perfect Supreme Court nominee," February 18, 2016
  23. ↑ National Law Journal, "Sri Srinivasan, Jeh Johnson and Kamala Harris Among Lawyers' Top Bets for Scalia Replacement," February 14, 2016
  24. ↑ CNN Politics, "Inside Obama's process for replacing Antonin Scalia," February 16, 2016
  25. ↑ LA Times, "In search for Scalia's successor, Obama may see GOP opposition as incentive to select a liberal," February 15, 2016
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Death of Antonin Scalia and subsequent Supreme Court seat replacement process
BackgroundAntonin Scalia.jpg
Possible nominees to replace Scalia
Response and reaction
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