Paul Ryan: Congress Has ‘Every Right’ Not to Confirm SCOTUS Nominee

House Speaker Paul Ryan has jumped into the fight over the Supreme Court vacancy left by Antonin Scalia‘s death. Many Republicans, including most of the presidential candidates, have made it clear that they aren’t going to let President Obama appoint someone less than nine months before the voters choose the next president.

This is what Ryan tweeted earlier:

The #SupremeCourt is not an extension of the White House. Congress, as an equal branch, has every right NOT to confirm someone.

— Paul Ryan (@SpeakerRyan) February 16, 2016

The SCOTUS fight has really taken off on Twitter, including with Hillary Clinton‘s big tweetstorm against the GOP last night. Here’s part of what she said:

1 Until Jan. 20, 2017, it's @POTUS' job to nominate Supreme Court justices—it's right there in the Constitution. -H pic.twitter.com/AWV47TRaTw

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) February 16, 2016

2 The need to fill the Supreme Court vacancy is not an occasion for politics as usual. This has real and urgent stakes for Americans now. -H

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) February 16, 2016

7 With these critical cases in the balance, Republicans wasted no time in vowing to block any SCOTUS nomination from @POTUS. A new low. -H

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) February 16, 2016

8 I have news for Republicans who would put politics over the Constitution: Refusing to do your duty isn’t righteous, it's disgraceful. -H

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) February 16, 2016

11 So, a message for Senate Republicans: Fill this vacancy. @POTUS will do his job. Do yours. -H

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) February 16, 2016

[image via screengrab]

— —

Follow Josh Feldman on Twitter: @feldmaniac