U.S. President Barack Obama disclosed on Saturday (February 13) that he plans to fulfill his constitutional responsibility to nominate a Supreme Court justice to fill the vacancy left by the death of Antonin Scalia.
Obama paid tribute to Scalia's legacy on the bench in brief remarks to reporters, but did not give any indication about who he would nominate to replace him.
"I plan to fulfill my constitutional responsibility to appoint a successor in due time and there will be plenty of time for me to do so and for the Senate to give that person a fair hearing and timely vote," Obama said in a brief remarks to reporters in California, where he was traveling.
The death of the conservative U.S. Supreme Court Justice sets up a major political showdown between Obama and the Republican-controlled Senate over who will replace him just months before a presidential election.
Scalia, 79, died at the Cibolo Creek Ranch resort in West Texas and posthumously received last rites there from a Catholic priest on Saturday afternoon, the Diocese of El Paso said. It was not clear when he died.
The Supreme Court lowered its U.S. flag in honor of the dead jurist.
A number of leading Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, opposed Obama's intention to nominate a new justice.
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