Consent

He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate... shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court,...

US Constitution, Article 2, Section 2

 

This details the president's authority to appoint justices to the Supreme Court.  Note that it is limited by the Advice and Consent of the Senate.  The Senate is not required to act expeditiously, schedule hearings, or play nice.  The Senate can refuse to confirm every single appointment from day one; their consent is not mandatory or it wouldn't be consent.  This is one of those checks we hear about in our checks & balances government.  The Senate is well within its authority.  As for the Democrats, they have no cause for complaint.  When the shoe was on the other foot, they imposed the nuclear option to bypass the minority party entirely on judicial nominations.  They rammed through, on a party line vote, the House version of the Affordable Care Act in the days before Scott Brown became the 41st Republican vote in the Senate, thus allowing zero input from the minority.  You reap what you sow.

 

There is currently an argument that Republicans want the people to decide the next Supreme Court Justice via their vote in November.  Democrats have countered that the people made that decision in 2012 when they reelected President Obama.  Of course, the people elected a Republican Senate in 2014.  Wouldn't that mean the people voted to obstruct the president more recently than they voted to support him?  In any case, the President is entirely within his rights to nominate a judge for the Supreme Court and the Senate is entirely within its rights to refuse consent.  Checks & Balances.

 

Of course, the Republicans are spineless and will likely collapse before the month is out.  That spinelessness, that lack of principals is why the Republican base is willing to roll the dice on Trump.  There will probably be hearings but will enough linguini-spined Republicans vote in favor of Obama's nominee to get 50 votes?  How many Jim Jeffords and Arlen Specters are still hiding in the Senate?  Considering the track record, I would give Obama even odds that his nominee is confirmed.