Obama has duty to appoint justice
Article II, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution states, in part: “The President shall… nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint… judges of the Supreme Court.” Barack Obama is the president of the United States. He was elected by the people, who knew and expected that, if the occasion arose, he would exercise this power.
In fact, it is his duty to exercise this power.
Sen. Mitch McConnell’s claim (also made by Republican candidates for president) that no president in the last year of his second term should be allowed to appoint a judge of the Supreme Court astounds me.
His apparent intention to block any nomination until after the November election violates the Constitution and is an insult to voters. No one has been nominated, so he is not talking about assessing the legitimate qualifications of a proposed justice. He is talking about blocking any nomination made by the president.
He would leave a critical seat on the Supreme Court open for more than a year for purely political reasons. We may be very close to proving that our system of government does not work under some circumstances.
Marilyn S. Daniel
Versailles
This story was originally published February 15, 2016 at 6:58 PM with the headline "Obama has duty to appoint justice."