奧巴馬和共和黨人開會討論最高法院席位空缺問題

U.S. President Barack Obama is hosting Senate Republican leaders Tuesday to discuss his planned appointment to the Supreme Court.

The nine-member court has an opening following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia last month. But Republicans have said Obama should not make an appointment to the lifetime position in his final year in office, instead leaving that to whomever is the next president.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley said ahead of the White House meeting they intend to reiterate that message.

Obama will be joined by fellow Democrats Vice President Joe Biden, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid and Senator Patrick Leahy.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Monday the president is open to discussion, but that the Republican position "makes it hard for him to engage constructively." He said the court is at risk of being "blatantly politicized."美國總統奧巴馬星期二將同參議院共和黨領袖會面，討論他計劃提名聯邦最高法院大法官人選的問題。

大法官斯卡利亞上個月去世後，由9名大法官組成的聯邦最高法院出現一個空缺。但是共和黨人說，奧巴馬不該在他任期最後一年提名終身制大法官，而是應該留給下一任總統。

參議院多數黨領袖麥康奈爾和司法委員會主席格拉斯利在前往白宮會晤奧巴馬之前表示，他們準備重申這一主張。

美國副總統拜登、參議院少數黨領袖裏德以及萊希參議員將與奧巴馬總統一起參加會面。

白宮發言人歐內斯特星期一說，奧巴馬總統願意展開討論，但是共和黨的立場“讓他很難與之進行建設性交流”。他說，聯邦最高法院正受到“公然政治化”的威脅。