Supreme Court No Vacancy

Conservative Supreme Court Justice, Antonin Scalia died this weekend setting off a battle about President Obama's plan to nominate new Supreme Court justice during his last year in office.

¿Has the President ever appointed a Supreme Court Justice in the last year of his term of office?

View fullsize

NYTimes. See more of the interactive below

1. How accurate was your prediction?

2. What story does the chart tell?

3. What does The U.S. Constitution Article II Section 2* say about how and when Supreme Court appointment can be made?

4. What chamber of Congress gets to approve nominations of Supreme Court Justices?

5. What has Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said about whether the Senate will approve any Obama nomination in the last year of his presidency?

6. Since President Nixon's first term in 1968, what president named the most Supreme Court Justices?

7. Justice Antonin Scalia served on the Supreme Court during how many different presidential administrations?

8. In the comments section, explain whether you think President Obama should nominate someone to fill the vacancy left by the death of Antonin Scalia:

---

Action Extension

Contact either Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell or President Barack Obama and share your opinion about whether the Senate should approve an Obama nominee for the Supreme Court:

---

Learning Extension

Read more about Scalia's death, the confirmation process, and where we might be headed.

*[The President] shall nominate, and, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.

View fullsize