Obama to Name Scalia Replacement Today

President Obama will announce his choice for a seat on the Supreme Court on Wednesday, setting up a battle with Senate Republicans over constitutional prerogatives and the ideological balance of the nation’s highest court.

The president will make a formal announcement of the “eminently qualified” choice at the Rose Garden at 8 a.m. Pacific, he said in an email to supporters.

“As president, it is both my constitutional duty to nominate a justice and one of the most important decisions that I -- or any president -- will make,” Obama wrote.

“I’m confident you’ll share my conviction that this American is not only eminently qualified to be a Supreme Court justice, but deserves a fair hearing, and an up-or-down vote," he added, nodding to the fierce fight with senators that lies ahead.