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Warren spars with McConnell over Scalia’s replacement

Senator Elizabeth Warren is urging a fast nominating process for the next Supreme Court justice.Associated Press

A day after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren fired back at Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, rejecting his call to allow the next president to appoint new judge to the Supreme Court and offering a glimpse of what could be a rough and tough confirmation process for Scalia’s replacement.

“The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president,” McConnell wrote on his Facebook page on Saturday.

Warren responded with her own statement Sunday morning, writing that President Obama had the support of the American people.

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“Senator McConnell is right that the American people should have a voice in the selection of the next Supreme Court justice. In fact, they did — when President Obama won the 2012 election by five million votes,” Warren wrote on her Twitter page.

In another Tweet, she cited language in the US Constitution — which spells out the right for a president to nominate a Supreme Court Justice.

“Article II Section 2 of the Constitution says the president of the United States nominates justices to the Supreme Court, with the advice and consent of the Senate. I can’t find a clause that says ‘...except when there’s a year left in the term of a Democratic president,’” she wrote.


Steven A. Rosenberg can be reached at srosenberg@globe.com.