WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito is standing firm in her opinion that the new president-elect should appoint the replacement for late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.
When Scalia died last week, controversy arose immediately as to who should appoint a replacement for arguably the most outspoken conservative of the nine justices.
“The nomination should come after the election when we have a new president, Republican or Democrat to clear the slate,” Capito said last week on MetroNews “Talkline.”Any nominee the president would put up would have great skepticism, and certainly I would be looking at it with a very critical eye in terms of what this would mean for West Virginia.”
A stay on the federal EPA’s Clean Power Plan was the last decision made by the Supreme Court involving Scalia.
“This is a very critical decision. The Clean Power Plan is one of the decisions the Supreme Court made while Justice Scalia was still living, that talks about Executive overreach, and the interplay between the Executive and the Legislature,” said Capito.
Capito said that the new appointee should have a record of staying consistent with the Constitution, as Scalia had earned a reputation for.
“We need somebody that has a paper trail that we can see what kinds of decisions have been made,” she said. “We need to have somebody that adheres to the Consitution and doesn’t make the laws. The Court is split 4-4 (between conservative and liberal leaning Justices), so this is the vote.”
Capito made clear that she did not intend to interfere with the process if it were to move forward.
“If the process moves forward, and the president nominates, and the Judiciary Committee hears that nomination and makes a decision, I’ll be part of that,” said Capito. “I don’t have plans to disrupt the process as it moves along.”
She cautioned that, given Obama’s past policies, any nomination he makes would be met with immediate opposition.
“A nominee by this president, because of the executive authorities he’s reached into all aspects of our lives, not just the environment, but also Second Ammendment rights and others, is going to have a troubled path,” she said. “It’s really going to put the country through a lot.”
U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin released a statement following Scalia’s death that President Obama has every right to appoint a replacement.
Scalia was found dead of natural causes in Texas on Feb. 13, with his funeral held Saturday at The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington.
The Trenton, N.J. native was appointed by President Ronald Reagan to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1986.