Klobuchar: Senate must do its job, consider Supreme Court nominee
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Minnesota DFL U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar leads a discussion today with constitutional scholars on the rules of selecting Supreme Court justices, part of a Democratic effort to sway Senate Republicans into vetting and voting on President Barack Obama's candidate to fill the Supreme Court seat open by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia.
Obama hasn't picked anyone yet, but Republicans have already said they won't consider an Obama nominee so close to the presidential election.
Is that the final word?
"I don't think so," Klobuchar tells NPR. "I think the Constitution should have the first word and the final word, and the Constitution says the president has a constitutional duty and obligation to nominate someone to the Supreme Court."
Klobuchar, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said she hopes the scholarly discussion will help "get the facts out" and bring public pressure on GOP senators to let the selection process play out now.
"Nothing is nice about politics," she said. "This happened. A tragic death occurred. No one expected it. Then the question is what do you do? I say you use the Constitution as your guide and you also look at history to interpret it. We don't leave those positions open."
Use the audio bar above to listen to the full conversation.
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