--- title: Senate GOP Won't Consider Any Obama Supreme Court Nominee description: Senate Republicans said that the body would not hold any hearings for whosoever the president nominates for the position canonical: https://time.com/4234570/supreme-court-nominee-scalia-senate-obama/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-23T22:17:43.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:04:36.520Z article:section: Politics og:title: Senate Committee Won't Consider Any Obama Supreme Court Nominee og:description: The Senate Republican leadership called Obama a "lame-duck president" og:url: https://time.com/4234570/supreme-court-nominee-scalia-senate-obama/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0ef66bf7c85ba3c8/69887edd5f570f7dd4b1fc54/senate-gop.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4555 og:image:height: 2562 og:image:alt: Mitch McConnell, John Cornyn, John Thune, Roger Wicker og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Senate Committee Won't Consider Any Obama Supreme Court Nominee twitter:description: The Senate Republican leadership called Obama a "lame-duck president" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0ef66bf7c85ba3c8/69887edd5f570f7dd4b1fc54/senate-gop.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Senate Committee Won't Consider Any Obama Supreme Court Nominee > Sponsored content. 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Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=ea9dc608-1b09-4a63-8279-0e9f39cfef85&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: TIME Raw: Obama Says He Will Nominate Justice Scalia’s Replacement [Watch (HLS stream): TIME Raw: Obama Says He Will Nominate Justice Scalia’s Replacement](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/0diTzE7v.m3u8) (3:12)  _Published 2016-02-14_ by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Feb 23, 2016 10:17 PM UTC  Mitch McConnell, center, speaks with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 23, 2016. Mitch McConnell, center, speaks with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 23, 2016. J. Scott Applewhite—AP by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Feb 23, 2016 10:17 PM UTC The bickering over [replacing the late Justice Antonin Scalia](http://time.com/4220662/justice-antonin-scalia-dead-at-79/) on the U.S. Supreme Court has taken a bitter turn. As the White House sought to clarify whether or not Vice President Biden had advocated against the nomination of a Supreme Court Justice during an election year in 1992, Senate Republicans signaled there would be little way forward for the president. Republicans on the Senate Judiciary committee announced Tuesday that the body would not hold any hearings for whoever the president nominates for the position. Sen. Chuck Grassley, the chair of the committee, sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell indicating the Judiciary Committee would “exercise our constitutional authority to withhold consent on any nominee to the Supreme Court submitted by this president to fill Justice Scalia’s vacancy.” The letter was signed by every Republican on the committee. Later in the afternoon, McConnell told reporters it was his view and the view of “virtually everyone in his conference” that the next president should nominate a replacement for Scalia. “I believe the overwhelming view of the Republican conference of the Senate, in the Senate is this vacancy should not be filled by this lame-duck president,” McConnell said. “That was the view of Joe Biden who was the chairman of the Judiciary committee in 1992.” A video of then-Senator Biden arguing against President George H.W. Bush sending a hypothetical nominee to his committee in the thick of an election year resurfaced on Monday. “The Senate Judiciary Committee should seriously consider not scheduling confirmation hearings on the nomination until after the political campaign season is over,” Biden said at the time.”Senate consideration of a nominee under these circumstances is not fair to the president, to the nominee, or to the Senate itself.” Though Republicans have been citing the Vice President in their arguments, the White House sought to debunk their reasoning on Tuesday. ‘We’ve observed in the past that we can spend a lot of time throwing quotes back and forth…but when you consider the record of Sen. Biden and his service on the Judiciary Committee, it’s a record that hard to beat,” White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Tuesday, noting that Biden helped secure the nomination of nine Supreme Court Justices during his time in the Senate. “He wasn’t just in the United States Senate so that he could confirm Supreme Court Justices appointed by Democrats. In this instance, Earnest said, the Obama administration wants the Senate to “precisely as Biden did when he served in the Senate,” and allow the nominee to get a fair hearing. Earnest also pushed back on the notion that the majority of Republicans in the Senate were in favor of withholding votes on the presidents nominee, listing a handful of senators who have said they would not be against voting on a nominee. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine and Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois have broken ranks in support of giving an Obama nominee a fair shot. The White House incorrectly said Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri also would be open to considering a presidential nominee, but the Senator tweeted his stance on Tuesday. > [](https://twitter.com/RoyBlunt/status/702226023576895489) The White House is insistent the president will nominate someone to replace the late conservative justice, but if this week’s bickering is any indication the president’s nominee has little to look forward to. ## Transcript Good evening, everybody. For almost 30 years, Justice Antonin " Nino" Scalia was a larger than life presence on the bench. A brilliant legal mind with an energetic style, an incisive wit, and colorful opinions. He influenced a generation of judges, lawyers, and students. And profoundly shaped the legal landscape. He will no doubt be remembered as one of the most consequential judges and thinkers to serve on the Supreme Court. Justice Scalia dedicated his life to the cornerstone of our democracy The rule of law. Tonight we honor his extraordinary service to our nation, and remember one of the towering legal figures of our time. And [ UNKNOWN ] was born in Trento, New Jersey to an italian immigrant family. After graduating from Georgetown university and Harvard law school. He worked at a law firm and taught law before entering a life of public service. He rose from Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Council, to the judge on the D. C. Circuit Court to Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. A devout Catholic. He was a proud father of nine children and grandfather to many loving grandchildren. Justice Scalia was both an avid hunter and an opera lover, a passion for music that he shared with his dear colleague and friend, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Michelle and I were proud to welcome him to the White House including, in 2012, for a State Dinner for Prime Minister David Cameron. And tonight we join his fellow justices in mourning this remarkable man. Obviously, today is a time to remember Just as Kolea's legacy. I plan to fulfill my constitutional responsibilities to nominate a successor in due time. There will be plenty of time for me to do so, and for the senate to fulfill it's responsibility to give that person a fair hearing and a timely vote. These are responsibilities that I take seriously, as should everyone. They're bigger than any one party. They are about our democracy. They're about the institution to which Justice Scalia dedicated his professional life in making sure it continues to function as the beacon of justice that our founders envisioned. But at this moment, we most all, wanna think about his family. And Michelle and I join the nation in sending our deepest sympathies to Justice Scalia's wife Maureen and their loving family, a beautiful symbol of a life well lived. We thank them for sharing Justice Scalia with our country. God bless them all and God bless the United States of America. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4234570/supreme-court-nominee-scalia-senate-obama/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4234570/supreme-court-nominee-scalia-senate-obama/"},"headline":"Senate Committee Won't Consider Any Obama Supreme Court Nominee","datePublished":"2016-02-23T22:17:43.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:04:36.520Z","description":"The Senate Republican leadership called Obama a \"lame-duck president\"","url":"https://time.com/4234570/supreme-court-nominee-scalia-senate-obama/","keywords":["Senate","Supreme Court","Barack Obama","Joe Biden","White House"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0ef66bf7c85ba3c8/69887edd5f570f7dd4b1fc54/senate-gop.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/blt0ef66bf7c85ba3c8/69887edd5f570f7dd4b1fc54/senate-gop.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Mitch McConnell, John Cornyn, John Thune, Roger Wicker","caption":"Mitch McConnell, center, speaks with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 23, 2016.","creditText":"J. 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