There’s a difference of opinion among Ohio’s U.S. Senators about the timetable for considering a new Supreme Court nominee.
Antonin Scalia died February 13th of natural causes at a west Texas resort.
President Barack Obama wants to be able to nominate someone to the high court during his term.
Republicans have vowed to block any nomination until a new president is in office.
Ohio Republican Senator Rob Portman agrees with his fellow Republicans but Democrat Sherrod Brown says let Obama choose.
“Yeah look, I think the people ought to decide. We’re in the middle of a presidential election and typically in the last year of a ‘lame duck’ presidency you don’t move forward on lifetime appointments and I think this one is a really important one and we ought to let the candidates tell us who they would pick and make that part of the process this year.“ said Portman.
“All I’m saying is that we should do our job. The president nominates. We should do hearings. We should have conversations with the nominee and we should bring him or her to a vote. I’m not saying how they should vote in the end, but let’s give them, go through the process. That’s what our constitution stands for and I just say senators should do their jobs.“ said Brown.
Whatever happens, the appointee will likely affect the balance of power on the nation’s high court to the left or the right.
