Obama won't attend Justice Scalia's funeral

Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden will be the only couple from the White House at Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's funeral Saturday, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Wednesday. While President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama will "pay their respects" to Scalia as he lies in repose in the Supreme Court's Great Hall Friday, Earnest says they do not plan to attend the funeral.

"The president obviously believes it's important for the institution of the presidency to pay his respects to somebody who dedicated three decades of his life to the institution of the Supreme Court," Earnest said. Politico reports that the last time a Supreme Court member died in 2005, then-President George W. Bush both attended the funeral and gave a eulogy for Chief Justice William Rehnquist.

Scalia died Saturday at age 79 while in Texas. The question of who should succeed him on the bench has already upended Washington, with Republicans arguing that nominations should be tabled until the next president takes office and the White House asserting that Obama will fulfill his presidential duty by nominating a candidate after the Senate returns from recess on Feb. 22.

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