Daily Digest: After Scalia
Good morning and happy President's Day.
The sudden death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia over the weekend threw a jolt into the presidential campaign and once again roiled the relationship between the executive and legislative branches of the federal government.
Let's take a look at the Digest to see how the republic is responding.
1. Scalia was a conservative icon on the court, known for his fiery dissenting opinions and his belief that the Constitution should be interpreted in the strict sense of the way it was written when it was ratified. (NPR)
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2. In the hours after news of his death spread it became clear there would be a bruising battle over Scalia's successor. President Obama pledged to use his constitutional authority to nominate a replacement, and the Republican majority in the Senate seemed just as determined to withhold consent until a new president is in office. (New York Times)
3. The Republican presidential candidates held a moment of silence in honor of Scalia at a Saturday night debate, then endorsed the Senate GOP plan to delay a confirmation. After that you might say the consensus broke down. (Politico)
4. Despite what the Republican candidates say, there is no longstanding practice of presidents declining to nominate Supreme Court justices in election years. (SCOTUSblog)
5. The president obviously has a number of factors to weigh as he considers a nominee, and one familiar name on the potential list that is once again surfacing is Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar. (USA Today)