Texas Judge Consulted With Scalia Doctor

The debate over whether it should be President Barack Obama or his successor who appoints the next Supreme Court justice is heating up.

    

Writing in today's Washington Post, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid says by refusing to approve an Obama nominee to succeed the late Justice Antonin Scalia, the GOP-led Senate would "aim a procedural missile at the foundation of our system of checks and balances."

    

But Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch tells CNN that the Constitution doesn't specify a "time constraint" for approving a new justice.

    

The No. 3 Democrat in the Senate, Chuck Schumer of New York, said today that he expects Obama to select a consensus candidate who could get bipartisan support.

    

But Sen. Ted Cruz, the Texan who has practiced before the high court and is seeking the Republican presidential nomination, has vowed to filibuster any nominee.

    

Republicans outnumber Democrats 11-9 on the Judiciary Committee, which would hold confirmation hearings and vote on whether to send the nominee to the full Senate. The GOP holds the majority, 54-46, and Democrats face an almost insurmountable task in trying to get 14 Republicans to join them in breaking a filibuster.

Meanwhile, Justice Scalia's courtroom chair has been draped in black to mark his death as part of a Supreme Court tradition that dates to the 19th century.

    

Scalia died Saturday at age 79. He joined the court in 1986 and was its longest-serving justice.

    

He sat to the right of Chief Justice John Roberts, the seat given to the senior justice.

    

The entrance to the marble courtroom and the mahogany bench in front of Scalia's chair also have been draped with black wool crepe.

    

Scalia will lie in repose at the Supreme Court on Friday, and his funeral will be held Saturday at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)