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Durbin Speaks Out On Scalia; Kirk Calls Debate 'Unseemly'

U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, shown here at a news conference at the University of Illinois Springfield, says Republicans are taking the wrong approach to the vacancy created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia.
Brian Mackey
/
WUIS
U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, shown here at a news conference at the University of Illinois Springfield, says Republicans are taking the wrong approach to the vacancy created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia.

Republicans in the U.S. Senate have vowed to block any nominee the president might submit to succeed the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. But Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois says there’s more than enough time to consider who should fill the vacancy.

Brian Mackey reports on where Illinois' U.S. senators stand on the question of whether President Barack Obama will be able to fill the Supreme Court vacancy created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia.

Durbin says although he disagreed with Scalia on many issues, he came to know him as a bright, funny man who gave three decades to public service.

U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, shown here at a news conference at the University of Illinois Springfield, says Republicans are taking the wrong approach to the vacancy created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia.
Credit Brian Mackey / WUIS
/
WUIS
U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, shown here at a news conference at the University of Illinois Springfield, says Republicans are taking the wrong approach to the vacancy created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia.

But he says he doesn’t understand why Republicans are already refusing to support anyone Obama nominates for the position.

“This nation that they’re rejecting the idea that he would want to be president for the remaining 11 months of his term, in my mind, is an indication of just how bad things are in the Republican-controlled Congress," Durbin said.

Illinois’ other U.S. senator, Mark Kirk, is up for re-election this year. He could face pressure to defy his Republican colleagues, but is not yet taking a position on the question of an Obama nominee. He says it’s “unseemly” to rush into a political debate.

Copyright 2016 NPR Illinois | 91.9 UIS

Brian Mackey formerly reported on state government and politics for NPR Illinois and a dozen other public radio stations across the state. Before that, he was A&E editor at The State Journal-Register and Statehouse bureau chief for the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin.
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