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Scalia’s death plunges court, national politics into turmoil Scalia’s death plunges court, national politics into turmoil
(35 minutes later)
BREAKING NEWS: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) shut down the process for approving a successor to the late Justice Antonin Scalia before it even started, declaring Saturday night that the seat should not be filled until the next president is sworn into office. The death of Justice Antonin Scalia Saturday plunged the Supreme Court and the nation’s politics into turmoil, and an immediate partisan battle began over whether President Obama should be allowed to nominate his successor.
 “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," he said in a statement.  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) said in a statement that the Senate should not confirm a replacement for Scalia until after the election.
McConnell's view is likely to be sharply challenged by President Obama and Democrats, but it will be difficult to overcome the objection of the Senate leader, whose position is likely to be supported by most Republicans. “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,” McConnell said.
Justice Antonin Scalia, the Supreme Court’s longest serving member and cornerstone of the modern conservative legal establishment, died Saturday at a ranch in Texas, the court said Saturday night. But the battle lines were immediately apparent. Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid followed McConnell’s statement with one of his own:
“It would be unprecedented in recent history for the Supreme Court to go a year with a vacant seat,” he said. “Failing to fill this vacancy would be a shameful abdication of one of the Senate’s most essential Constitutional responsibilities.”
[Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia dies at 79][Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia dies at 79]
“On behalf of the court and retired justices, I am saddened to report that our colleague Justice Antonin Scalia has passed away,” Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said in a statement released after word of Scalia’s death was reported by news outlets in Texas. Sen. Patrick Leahy, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, joined Reid in saying the court should not go a year without a full array of justices.
“The American people deserve to have a fully functioning Supreme Court,” he said in a statement. “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.”
Scalia’s shocking death also creates doubt about the outcome of a Supreme Court term that was filled with some of the most controversial issues facing the nation: abortion, affirmative action, the rights of religious objectors to the contraceptive mandate in the Affordable Care Act, the president’s powers on immigration and deportation.
An eight-member court could split on all of those issues.
Scalia, 79, was the court’s second-oldest and longest serving justice, having joined the court in 1986. He was the cornerstone of the modern conservative legal establishment, known as a brilliant writer and acerbic critic.
[Tributes pour in to mark Justice Antonin Scalia's passing][Tributes pour in to mark Justice Antonin Scalia's passing]
He died while on a hunting trip in Texas.
“On behalf of the court and retired justices, I am saddened to report that our colleague Justice Antonin Scalia has passed away,” Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said in a statement released after word of Scalia’s death was reported by news outlets in Texas.
“He was an extraordinary individual and jurist, admired and treasured by his colleagues. 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.”“He was an extraordinary individual and jurist, admired and treasured by his colleagues. 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.”
His death plunges the court and the nation’s politics into turmoil. His replacement could swing the balance on a court closely divided along ideological lines.
[The best and worst Supreme Court decisions][The best and worst Supreme Court decisions]
While it presents President Obama with the chance to appoint a third justice, it would not be surprising if the Republican-led Senate refused to fill the seat until after the election. The White House issued a statement from Principal Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz:
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) said in a statement that the Senate should not confirm a replacement for Scalia until after the election. “This afternoon the President was informed of the passing of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. The President and First Lady extend their deepest condolences to Justice Scalia’s family. We’ll have additional reaction from the President later today.”
“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,” McConnell said.
It also creates doubt about the outcome of a Supreme Court term that was filled with some of the most controversial issues facing the nation: abortion, affirmative action, the rights of religious objectors to the contraceptive mandate in the Affordable Care Act, the president’s powers on immigration and deportation.
An eight-member court could split on all of those issues.