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Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences Dedman College Research Faculty News History

Constitution demands president nominate a justice, but congress has power to change number on court

SMU News

Originally Posted: February 16, 2016

DALLAS (SMU) – Jeffrey Engel, director of the Center for Presidential History at SMU, says just as the Senate has the right to block President Obama’s nominee to replace the late Antonin Scalia, Congress has the right to alter the number of sitting justices.

But a presidential decision to sidestep constitutional responsibility to nominate a candidate for a vacant Supreme Court seat should be grounds for impeachment, Engel says. READ MORE