By Amanda Maile

On Feb. 13, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia passed away, leaving one spot vacant on the bench. During his tenure, Scalia became known for his conservative views and outspoken opinions.

Scalia’s death gave President Obama the opportunity to nominate a new Justice. As such, Obama has nominated Merrick B. Garland.

But before he even nominated anyone, members of Congress had already voiced their opposition to any nomination, claiming the decision should be left up to the next president. Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), both agreed that Obama should not nominate a new Justice. Their argument rested on the fact that it is an election year.

Take a look at the Constitution of the United States. Article Two lists all the powers of the Executive Branch, which reads, “[The President] shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the Supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States.”

Constitutionally, the president has the right to appoint members of the Supreme Court. Afterwards, the Senate votes on whether to affirm or deny the president’s choice. Former Presidential candidate and Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), told George Stephanopoulos of ABC’s “This Week,” “[Obama] has the legal right to do it, but — and —as president, I would recognize that precedent, and the precedent that’s been set over the last 80 years has been that, in the last year of a president’s term, and in a second term especially, there should not be Supreme Court nominees put into lifetime positions for a president that you’re not going to be able to hold accountable at the ballot box.”

There is nothing in the Constitution that says the president cannot make a Supreme Court nomination in an election year. The republican argument is invalid. In fact, former President Ronald Reagan nominated current Justice Anthony Kennedy in 1987. Kennedy was confirmed and sworn in the following year, which also happened to be the final year of Reagan’s two-term presidency.

It seems as though republicans are worried about what could happen if Obama nominated a liberal Justice. The Court will soon hear cases on contraceptives, abortion and immigration reform. The possibility of a new justice could sway these decisions out of republican favor. That being said, the job of a Supreme Court Justice is not to judge based on his or her own political ideologies; it is to interpret the Constitution as it is written. The fact that the argument even exists confirms the fact that the Court is politicized.

Now that Obama has nominated his choice, the Senate has three choices. They can vote to deny the nomination, they can vote to affirm the nomination or they can do nothing. They can even sit on the nomination and wait until a new president is elected come November. Obama was right to nominate his own Justice. The Senate has no grounds to stand on; nowhere does it say the president cannot nominate a new Justice during his or her final year in office. In addition, it is important for the highest court in our country to have an odd number of Justices. If the decisions of the Supreme Court are left in a tie, the ruling of the lower court is retained. Without an uneven number of Justices, the Supreme Court cannot function to the best of its ability. It is crucial for a new Justice to be elected.

However, another issue Justice Scalia’s death has brought forward is that the highest court in the United States has become overly polarized in party politics. In the Constitution, there is no mention of the Supreme Court needing to possess an even or uneven number of Justices from each political party. It does not say the president should nominate Justices who are aligned with his or her political party.

The only clause that we are sure of when it comes to the Supreme Court Justices is that the president can nominate a worthy Justice, and the Senate can ensure the best possible candidate takes that empty seat on the bench.

Amanda Maile, FCRH ’17, a communication and media studies major from Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania. She currently serves as The Fordham Ram’s Assistant Copy Chief.