Sen. Warren Blasts Republican Plan To Block Supreme Court Justice Nomination

United States Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat who represents Massachusetts, released a statement stating President Barrack Obama has every right to nominate a Supereme Court Justice before the election.

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died on Saturday at a resort in Texas. President Obama said he would nominate a new justice before he leaves office, later this year.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, said Supreme Court Justice Scalia should not be replaced until after the presidential election.

“The American people‎ should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice,” he said in a statement. “Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new President.”

Massachusetts’ senior senator has some thoughts on McConnell’s statement.

“The sudden death of Justice Scalia creates an immediate vacancy on the most important court in the United States,” said Massachusetts’ senior senator. “Senator McConnell is right that the American people should have a voice in the selection of the next Supreme Court justice. In fact, they did - when President Obama won the 2012 election by five million votes.”

Warren explained that ”Article II Section 2 of the Constitution says the President of the United States nominates justices to the Supreme Court, with the advice and consent of the Senate. I can’t find a clause that says ‘...except when there’s a year left in the term of a Democratic President.’

“Senate Republicans took an oath just like Senate Democrats did. Abandoning the duties they swore to uphold would threaten both the Constitution and our democracy itself. It would also prove that all the Republican talk about loving the Constitution is just that - empty talk,” said Warren.