Martin Alvito
Real men play SMAC
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2010
- Messages
- 2,332
Republicans want a replacement as far right as Scalia though.
That can't happen unless the Republicans win the White House in November and hold the Senate. Justices such as Burger, Rehnquist and Thomas getting confirmed by the opposition are rarities, and would likely never happen in today's highly charged partisan environment with respect to the Court.
Under divided government, justices like Brennan, Blackmun, Stevens and Souter (where the nominating party doesn't get what it was after in part or even in full) are much more likely to result.
The sharp-eyed among you may notice that all of these examples happened under Republican presidents, but this is because no Democratic president in the last hundred years has had to fill a Supreme Court vacancy when the Republicans controlled the Senate.