Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has announced that the Senate will not consider any nominee to replace Justice Antonin Scalia until after the next president is inaugurated in January. McConnell, a long-standing opponent of President Obama, stated that he will not even meet with the nominee chosen by Obama. According to the US Constitution, the Senate has the authority to approve or reject the president's Supreme Court pick. Republicans are hoping to delay the nomination process in order to allow the next president to fill Scalia's seat, with the upcoming election on Nov 8 being a key factor in their decision. McConnell stated that the nomination will depend on the winner of the presidential election in the fall. He also mentioned that Senate Republicans overwhelmingly believe that the current president should not fill the vacancy. If Obama's nominee is approved, it could shift the court to the left for the first time in many years. Scalia's death has left the court evenly split between liberals and conservatives. This situation has not been seen since the controversial nominations of Robert Bork in 1987 and Clarence Thomas in 1991. There has been a lot of tension over the Supreme Court vacancy, but Obama has not yet revealed his choice. The White House and Senate Democrats criticized McConnell's position, with Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid calling it extreme obstructionism. McConnell and other congressional Republicans have consistently opposed various Obama initiatives, such as the healthcare law, Iran nuclear deal, immigration policy, and climate change efforts. McConnell cited a previous statement by Joe Biden to support the Supreme Court's decision not to act. McConnell pointed out that Biden, while serving as Senate Judiciary Committee chairman in 1992, recommended delaying action on Supreme Court nominees during an election year. Biden later clarified that he was speaking in a hypothetical scenario since there was no Supreme Court vacancy at the time. McConnell's decision to not hold confirmation hearings came after Chairman Chuck Grassley and other Republican members of the Judiciary Committee wrote a letter to him expressing their stance. Grassley had previously considered the possibility of holding hearings. Republican senators emphasized to McConnell in the letter the importance of allowing the American people to have a thorough debate on the type of judge they want to address crucial issues, especially with the upcoming presidential election on Nov 8. If the Senate delays considering a nominee until after a new president is in office, it is unlikely that the Supreme Court will have its full nine justices until early 2017. This would leave the court short-staffed for over a year, affecting its ability to make decisions. In cases where there is a tie, lower court rulings stand and no national precedent is established. Reid attributed the Republican strategy to pressure from the party's conservative faction, specifically mentioning Donald Trump and Ted Cruz as examples. Reid stated that Senate Democrats would not block legislation like appropriations bills in retaliation for Republican inaction, in order to avoid becoming known as "the obstruct caucus." White House spokesman Josh Earnest expressed concern that denying a hearing for Obama's nominee would be unprecedented and bring politics into the Supreme Court, which has been insulated from such influence for over two centuries. Earnest noted that since 1875, a president's nominee has never been denied a hearing unless the nomination was later withdrawn. McConnell emphasized that presidents have the right to nominate while the Senate has the right to provide or withhold consent, in this case choosing to withhold it. Schumer, a Senate Democratic leader, believed that pressure from voters would cause vulnerable Republican Senate incumbents seeking re-election to reconsider their position on Obama's nominee. Schumer criticized Senate Republicans, calling their strategy risky and doomed to fail. However, Senator Orrin Hatch, a Republican Judiciary Committee member, expressed confidence in their decision, stating that they are standing up for the principle that the next president should address the issue. Democrats are outnumbered in the Senate, lacking the 60 votes required to pass controversial legislation or a Supreme Court nomination. With 46 seats controlled by Democrats and the remaining 54 held by Republicans, they face an uphill battle.