Obama may pressure Republicans with pick

Hillary Clinton thinks the president may pick one of the judges already confirmed by the Senate to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia.

Hillary Clinton is predicting that President Barack Obama will nominate someone who's already been confirmed by the Senate to replace the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

The Democratic candidate for president said that potentially would increase pressure on Republicans to consider Obama's choice for the high court.

"I'm hoping that we will get somebody nominated that will get people saying, 'Hey, the only reason you're blocking this is pure partisanship, so do your duty,'" Clinton said.

Some judges now serving on the federal appeals courts "were confirmed 99-0" by the Senate, she said.

In the wake of Scalia's death on Saturday, Republican senators and several Republican presidential candidates have said Obama should not seek to replace the revered conservative jurist during the final 11 months of his term. Instead, they argue, that choice should be left to the winner of November's presidential election.

Obama has said he will make a nomination, and Clinton and her rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, have both expressed outrage at the potential of a Republican-led Senate refusing to consider it.

"I think the president is going to look for somebody who has the record that is going to be hard for the Republicans to be against," Clinton said.

"Somebody who is a sensible person with a good record, and maybe somebody who's already been confirmed by the Senate."


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Source: AAP



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