Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died Saturday at age 79, removing the court’s most influential conservative voice and immediately opening a high-stakes election-year fight over who should choose his successor.

Scalia was found dead in Texas, where he had been visiting a ranch. Chief Justice John Roberts announced his death Saturday afternoon, calling Scalia an extraordinary jurist and a treasured colleague. President Barack Obama later ordered flags at federal buildings to half-staff and said he intends to nominate a successor.

Within hours, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the vacancy should remain open until a new president takes office next January. That sets up a direct constitutional and political confrontation between the White House and the Republican-led Senate, with the balance of the Supreme Court potentially at stake.

Nearly Three Decades on the Court

Scalia joined the Supreme Court in 1986 after President Ronald Reagan nominated him to replace William Rehnquist, who was elevated to chief justice. The Senate confirmed Scalia unanimously.

Over nearly 30 years, he became the court’s leading advocate for originalism, the view that constitutional provisions should be interpreted according to their original public meaning, and textualism, an approach that emphasizes the enacted words of statutes over legislative history or broad policy purposes.

His influence extended well beyond individual votes. Scalia’s sharply written opinions, frequent dissents and public lectures helped make originalism a central force in conservative legal thought. A generation of judges, lawyers and law students has engaged with his methods whether agreeing with them or not.

President Obama, in remarks Saturday night, called Scalia a “larger-than-life presence on the bench” and one of the most consequential legal thinkers to serve on the court.

A Court Suddenly Divided 4–4

Scalia’s death leaves eight justices and removes a reliable member of the court’s conservative bloc. In closely divided cases, that creates the possibility of 4–4 ties.

When the Supreme Court splits evenly, the lower-court ruling generally remains in effect without creating a nationwide Supreme Court precedent. That could have immediate consequences because the justices are considering major cases involving abortion, affirmative action, public-sector unions, immigration and other politically charged issues.

The court’s ideological balance has often depended on Justice Anthony Kennedy, who joins conservative or liberal colleagues depending on the case. With Scalia absent, some cases that might have produced 5–4 conservative outcomes could instead result in ties or different majorities.

The effect will depend on the legal questions and on whether the court chooses to decide, postpone or reargue particular cases after a ninth justice is confirmed.

Obama Says He Will Nominate a Successor

Obama made clear Saturday evening that he does not intend to leave the seat vacant voluntarily.

“I plan to fulfill my constitutional responsibilities to nominate a successor in due time,” the president said, arguing that the Senate should provide the nominee a fair hearing and timely vote.

Article II of the Constitution gives the president power to nominate Supreme Court justices with the advice and consent of the Senate. Obama has nearly a year remaining in office and has already appointed two justices, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.

The president did not identify potential nominees or specify when he will make a selection. Any choice is certain to receive intense scrutiny because replacing Scalia with a more liberal justice could shift the court’s center of gravity for years.

McConnell Says the Next President Should Decide

Senate Republican leaders immediately took the opposite position. McConnell said Saturday that “the American people should have a voice” in the selection and that the vacancy should not be filled until the country has a new president.

That position would require the Senate to delay action for roughly 11 months, through the remainder of Obama’s term and the 2016 election.

Republicans control the Senate and therefore control the Judiciary Committee schedule and floor calendar. Even if Obama sends a nomination, the chamber is not required to confirm the nominee, and Senate leaders have substantial power over whether hearings or votes occur.

Democrats are arguing that leaving the court short-handed for nearly a year would be an extraordinary refusal to perform the Senate’s constitutional role. Republicans counter that voters should effectively decide the court’s direction through the presidential election now underway.

The Vacancy Enters the Presidential Race

Scalia’s death immediately became an issue in the Republican presidential debate Saturday night in South Carolina. Candidates argued that the next president should fill the seat and urged the Senate to resist an Obama nominee.

Democratic candidates are taking the opposite view, saying Obama has both the authority and obligation to make a nomination before leaving office.

The vacancy therefore raises the stakes of an election already focused on the future direction of the country. Supreme Court appointments can shape law for decades because justices serve during good behavior, effectively giving them life tenure.

For voters, the debate is no longer abstract. The next appointment could influence decisions involving reproductive rights, executive power, voting laws, environmental regulation, gun rights, campaign finance, labor law and the reach of federal agencies.

Scalia was known as much for his writing style as for his jurisprudence. His opinions were often blunt, humorous and confrontational, making technical legal disputes accessible to a wider audience.

He was also known for friendships across ideological lines, most famously with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The two disagreed sharply in cases but shared interests in opera, travel and intellectual debate.

His critics argued that originalism could be applied selectively and that his approach sometimes favored conservative outcomes despite claims of methodological neutrality. His supporters credited him with forcing judges to pay closer attention to statutory text and with reviving serious debate over the Constitution’s original meaning.

Whatever the evaluation, Scalia changed legal argument. Lawyers now routinely address textualist and originalist claims in cases where earlier generations may have relied more heavily on legislative history, precedent or broader policy reasoning.

A Vacancy With Immediate Consequences

The Supreme Court now faces the practical challenge of continuing its term with eight justices while Washington prepares for what may become one of the most contentious confirmation fights in recent history.

Obama has said he will nominate. McConnell has said the Senate should wait for the next president. Neither side is signaling compromise.

That confrontation ensures that Scalia’s death will affect more than the court’s internal deliberations. It will shape Senate politics, presidential campaigning and public debate over the judiciary for the remainder of 2016.

For nearly three decades, Antonin Scalia helped define the conservative legal movement from a seat on the nation’s highest court. His death leaves that seat empty at a moment when control of the White House and Senate is already being contested. The question of who replaces him may now become one of the defining issues of the election itself.