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President Barack Obama said that he would nominate a qualified Supreme Court nominee and that the Senate would have “more than enough time” to consider his choice.
During a press conference following his summit with Southeast Asian leaders, President Obama told reporters that he fully intended to move ahead with a replacement for the late Justice Anthony Scalia.
“There’s no unwritten law that says that it can only be done on off-years,” he said. “The Constitution is pretty clear about what is supposed to happen now.”
GOP leaders have argued that filling the seat should be left to the next president.
“This is the Supreme Court, the highest court in the land,” President Obama said. “It's the one court where we would expect elected officials to rise above day-to-day politics. This will be the opportunity for Senators to do their job."
“Your job doesn't stop until you are voted out or until your term expires," he said.
According to Yahoo News, President Obama's shortlist includes: Sri Srinivasan, a US Court of Appeals judge, Merrick Garland, chief judge of the US Court of Appeals, Attorney General Loretta Lynch, Neal Katyal, a Georgetown law professor, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, Solicitor General Don Verrilli and former Attorney General Eric Holder.
