How a Supreme Court Justice is Chosen
- When there is an open judicial position, the president nominates someone to the position
- The nomination is sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee
- The Judiciary Committee collects information about the nominee and reviews the nominee's record and qualifications
- The Judiciary Committee holds a hearing on the nominee where witnesses speak on behalf of the nominee and senators ask questions of the nominee
- The Judiciary Committee votes on the nomination and then makes a recommendation to the full Senate
- The full Senate debates the nomination
- A vote of three-fifths of the Senate (60 senators) is required to end debate and move on to vote for or against the nominee
- Senate votes on the nomination and a simple majority is required for the nomination to pass
Source: civilrights.org
The U.S. government is based around the cooperation of differing political views.
However, after the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia on Feb. 13 — which was determined to be from natural causes — debates between Republicans and Democrats have broken out. They can't agree on whether President Obama will nominate a successor to Scalia’s position, or if the position will remain vacant until a new administration is in office.
John Rash, member of the BSU Democrats, said appointing a new justice is the right of the president.
“Republicans are trying to block Obama's nominee for Supreme Court justice; however, it's in Article II of the constitution that says look, the president can appoint a Supreme Court judge,” Rash said.
Anthony Cook, chairman of BSU Republicans, agreed with Rash that the decision is the right of the president.
The nominee for the position must be approved by Senate with a majority vote. This is where politics could get messy.
Cook said even though Obama should try appointing a new justice, the Republicans might not go for it.
“I think the Republicans will try to delay and/or block the nomination process as long as they can, and I think the Democrats will do the exact opposite and push to get a nomination before Obama is out of office,” Cook said.
Rash said the Republicans dislike Obama and therefore everything he does, so Republicans hope to be able to hold out until a new president is in office.
Senior Republican senators like Ted Cruz and Senior Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said they wouldn’t even consider an appointment from Obama, even though he still has almost a year left in his presidency.
While the Republican party believes Obama will not offer a nominee that meets its standards or likings, Cook has a different opinion on what will happen to the open seat.
“I think [Obama] will [nominate someone] because we basically have a year still,” he said. “I think the Republicans will try to push back, but I think a nomination will go through and be accepted. We have a year, and you can’t let the seat sit empty for a year.”
Rash said the people's image of politics has become somewhat skewed.
“The way politics should happen is they should respect each other," he said. "Obama should respect the Senate, Senate should respect Obama. They should make a decision together — bipartisanship.”
It's unpredictable what exactly will happen with the justice position, but John Rouse, a political science professor, said he believes a solution will be made.
"The trends are with evolution, not right wing revolution," he said. "Obama stays ahead of the political curve."
Rouse also said he believes Obama will nominate a conservative Republican woman from Iowa.
With talk of nominations, Cook, a Republican, said he would just be happy with a moderate.
"I would like to see someone nominated who isn’t necessarily controversial. I would really like to see [Obama] nominate someone who is respectable and somebody who is going to be unanimously selected,” he said. “I honestly don’t think he will nominate a Republican, because that’s just how things go. I’d really like to see [Obama] nominate a moderate on any side, really — someone who can kind of be a little bipartisan.”
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