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Political battle brewing over Justice Antonin Scalia’s replacement

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia will be laid to rest on Saturday, but debate is already raging over who will select his replacement.

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia will be laid to rest on Saturday, but debate is already raging over who will select his replacement.

With Scalia’s death, the bench is evenly split between conservatives and liberals, so any appointment will sway the ideological leaning of the court.

“Just about any replacement, unless he’s replaced by a Republican president and Senate, is likely to be relatively more liberal than Scalia was, and that has a lot of implications for the decisions the court is making on a lot of fundamental issues,” said Nathan Kalmoe, a political science professor at Monmouth College.

President Obama said he plans to nominate a replacement, and he expects the Senate to give his nominee a fair hearing and vote.

“I’m going to present somebody who indisputably is qualified for the seat,” said Obama.

The Senate’s Republican leadership, though, has vowed to block any consideration until after the November election. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, and hasn’t said yet whether he’ll give any possible candidate a confirmation hearing.

“I feel that this is such an important position, and times are a lot different, that we need to wait until we get a new president,” said Grassley.

Kalmoe said there are risks, though, to leaving Scalia’s seat unfilled. For one, Democrats could paint their GOP colleagues as obstructionists in the upcoming election.

“There are some Senate Republicans who are in vulnerable states that could go either way, so the Senate incumbents could potentially lose their seats if it becomes a major issue,” said Kalmoe.

Overall, Kalmoe believes the battle is just beginning.

“Scalia was definitely a contentious guy in his opinions – he wasn’t afraid to say what was on his mind and do it in a brilliant way, but often in a kind of antagonistic way. So, this is kind of an interesting coda on his legacy to have this kind of antagonism going on in national politics,” said Kalmoe.

Until a replacement is selected, any Supreme Court cases that are decided 4-4 won’t set precedent, and the lower court’s decision will stand.

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