The Supreme Court can function with only eight justices until next year, Sen. Marco Rubio said Sunday, reiterating his stance that Senate Republicans should wait to fill former Justice Antonin Scalia’s now-vacant slot.
“We can be debating on it, but we’re not moving forward, period,” Rubio said on “Fox News Sunday.”
Just hours after news broke of Scalia’s death, Rubio and his GOP presidential opponents argued at a debate Saturday that the Senate should hold off on approving his replacement in hopes that one of them will win the White House and nominate a conservative to the high court.
Fox News host Chris Wallace pressed Rubio on whether that timetable is still too long, as the election is still more than eight months away. Wallace noted that the Senate confirmed President Ronald Reagan nomination of Justice Anthony Kennedy during Reagan’s final year in office.
Rubio said “it doesn’t really matter” what Reagan did, adding that it might have been different had Scalia passed away last fall instead.
“It doesn’t really matter what Reagan did back in 1987,” Rubio said.
