--- title: Obama: I Will Nominate a 'Qualified' Supreme Court Justice description: "I intend to nominate in due time a very well-qualified nominee" canonical: https://time.com/4226680/obama-supreme-court-nominee/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-16T22:28:58.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-05T08:41:12.322Z article:section: Politics og:title: Obama: I Will Nominate a 'Qualified' Supreme Court Justice og:description: "I intend to nominate in due time a very well-qualified nominee" og:url: https://time.com/4226680/obama-supreme-court-nominee/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4e37a671e83175a9/69887ddc8e06010234464a1d/barack-obama5.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4650 og:image:height: 2616 og:image:alt: Barack Obama og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Obama: I Will Nominate a 'Qualified' Supreme Court Justice twitter:description: "I intend to nominate in due time a very well-qualified nominee" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4e37a671e83175a9/69887ddc8e06010234464a1d/barack-obama5.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Obama Says He Will Pick a 'Qualified' Supreme Court Nominee > Sponsored content. 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There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=17d10bf5-201a-4e7f-8b2a-fb7b167056a4&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: TIME Raw: Obama Says He Will Pick A 'Qualified' Supreme Court Nominee [Watch (HLS stream): TIME Raw: Obama Says He Will Pick A 'Qualified' Supreme Court Nominee](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/veyEEaTj.m3u8) (1:15)  _Published 2016-02-16_ by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Feb 16, 2016 10:28 PM UTC by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Feb 16, 2016 10:28 PM UTC President Obama repeated his intent to nominate someone to fill the Supreme Court vacancy left by Justice Antonin Scalia, who died Saturday at age 79, despite suggestions from Republican Senators that Obama should pass the nomination off to the next President. “I intend to nominate in due time a very well-qualified nominee,” Obama said Monday, speaking at a press conference in California. “This is the Supreme Court, the highest court in the land. The one court where we would expect elected officials to rise above day-to-day politics.” Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell released a statement on Saturday urging President Obama to wait it out. On Monday, Obama denounced how political the process has become, calling it another instance where “venom” and “rancor” in Washington have held up the political process. Obama added that he has plenty of time between now and his final day in office to nominate someone to the court. “I intend to do my job between now and Jan. 20, 2016\. They should do their,” Obama said, referring to the Senate. “I intend to nominate somebody … I expect them to hold hearings … I expect there to be a vote.” Obama did not say who he would nominate, nor did he say whether he would nominate someone moderate in order to ensure the process runs smoothly, given Scalia’s standing as one of the most conservative Justices on the court. “You shouldn’t assume anything about the qualifications of the nominee other than they will be qualified,” Obama told the reporter who pressed him about the potential nominee. ## Transcript The Constitution is pretty clear about what is supposed to happen now. When there is a vacancy on the Supreme Court the President of the United States is to nominate someone. The Senate is to consider that nomination. And either they disapprove of that nominee or that nominee is elevated to the Supreme Court. Historically, this has not been viewed as a question. We're gonna find somebody who is an outstanding legal mind. Somebody who cares deeply about our democracy and cares about rule of law. There's not gonna be any particular position on a particular issue that determines whether or not I nominate them, but I'm going to present somebody who, indisputably, is qualified for the seat. And any fair minded person, even somebody who disagreed with my politics would say would serve with honor and integrity on the court. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4226680/obama-supreme-court-nominee/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4226680/obama-supreme-court-nominee/"},"headline":"Obama Says He Will Pick a 'Qualified' Supreme Court Nominee","datePublished":"2016-02-16T22:28:58.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-05T08:41:12.322Z","description":"\"I intend to nominate in due time a very well-qualified nominee\"","url":"https://time.com/4226680/obama-supreme-court-nominee/","keywords":["Supreme Court","Barack Obama","President Obama"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4e37a671e83175a9/69887ddc8e06010234464a1d/barack-obama5.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4e37a671e83175a9/69887ddc8e06010234464a1d/barack-obama5.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Barack Obama","caption":"Barack Obama answers questions during a news conference following the conclusion of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations leaders summit in Rancho Mirage, Calif. on Feb. 16, 2016.","creditText":"Pablo Martinez Monsivais—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/supreme-court/","name":"Supreme Court"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4226680/obama-supreme-court-nominee/","name":"Obama Says He Will Pick a 'Qualified' Supreme Court Nominee"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME Raw: Obama Says He Will Pick A 'Qualified' Supreme Court Nominee","description":"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/veyEEaTj/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-02-16T23:49:58.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/veyEEaTj.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4226680/obama-supreme-court-nominee/","duration":"PT1M15S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4226680/obama-supreme-court-nominee/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```