Harry Reid: Obama Nominating Scalia Replacement in 'A Little Over Three Weeks'

On February 18, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said President Obama will nominate a replacement for Antonin Scalia to the Supreme Court in “a little over three weeks.”

According to Fox News, Reid met with Obama on Thursday then told MSNBC, “We’re going to have someone in the next few weeks.” He then clarified, saying, “I think it will be a little over three weeks.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has already said he believes Scalia’s vacancy should be filled by the next president, and Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz said he is “absolutely” determined to filibuster any Supreme Court nominee put forward by Obama this year.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) released a statement on February 13 — the day of Scalia’s death — in which he contended that the job of nominating a new Supreme Court justice belonged to the next president, rather than Obama. By February 16, he had modified his stance, telling Radio Iowa, “I would wait until the nominee is made before I would make any decisions. In other words, take it a step at a time.”

The Supreme Court is crucial to the survival of individual gun rights in America. With the death of Scalia, the court is now divided 4-4 on crucial decisions like District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) and McDonald v. Chicago (2010). The Heller ruling struck down D.C.’s gun ban as a violation of the individual right to keep and bear arms, and McDonald struck down Chicago’s gun ban on the grounds that Second Amendment rights are incorporated under the Fourteenth Amendment. Such incorporation means the Constitution not only protects gun rights from federal infringement but from state infringement as well.

AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.