President Barack Obama detailed the qualifications he’s looking for in a nominee to fill the seat of late Justice Antonin Scalia in a column for Supreme Court-watching website SCOTUSblog on Wednesday.
“Rulings handed down by the Supreme Court directly affect our economy, our security, our rights, and our daily lives,” Obama wrote. “Needless to say, this isn’t something I take lightly.”
Obama wrote that he’s looking for three qualities: “A sterling record. A deep respect for the judiciary’s role. An understanding of the way the world really works. That’s what I’m considering as I fulfill my constitutional duty to appoint a judge to our highest court.”
Obama sidestepped Republican senators who said they will not consider any nominee for the court’s vacancy on Tuesday. Instead, he encouraged the Senate to “fulfill their constitutional duty.”
“And as Senators prepare to fulfill their constitutional responsibility to consider the person I appoint, I hope they’ll move quickly to debate and then confirm this nominee so that the Court can continue to serve the American people at full strength,” he wrote.
Read the full column here.
