House Speaker Paul Ryan speaks during his weekly news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington last week. Credit: Associated Press

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Washington — Joining other leading Republicans, House Speaker Paul Ryan said Tuesday that he supported the idea of blocking an Obama nomination to the Supreme Court after the death of conservative Justice Antonin Scalia.

"The Supreme Court is not an extension of the White House. The president has absolutely every right to nominate someone to the Supreme Court, but Congress as an equal branch also has every right not to confirm someone," the Janesville Republican said in an interview with the Journal Sentinel.

"We are knee deep into a presidential election and I think the precedent for not filling a Supreme Court vacancy in such a time is justified," said Ryan, referring to the hotly disputed question of whether the Senate's refusal to take up a nomination with nearly a year remaining in the Barack Obama presidency is consistent with constitutional and political traditions.

Senate Republicans have said they won't act on a nomination by this White House to replace Scalia, echoing calls from the party's presidential candidates to deny Obama another court appointment and leave the pick to his successor.

Ryan said "Democrats would be doing exactly the same thing if the shoe were on the other foot," meaning they would want to defer confirmation under a Republican president serving his or her last year in office.

But Ryan did not dispute that Republicans also would be arguing differently if their party occupied the White House.

"I think everyone is going to make spin that benefits their side. I think it's pretty obvious," he said.

Ryan contended that there is a broader rationale beyond simple politics for senators to oppose an Obama nominee at this stage — the balance of powers between the executive and legislative branches.

"The president has tried everything he can to empower the executive branch at the expense of the legislative one. His Supreme Court nominees have all contributed to that, those that he has placed on the bench already. So not only does Congress have the authority to stop a nominee, it has an obligation to defend itself against a president and a radically altered court that would continue to seize its powers," Ryan said.

Ryan argued repeatedly that the powers of the legislative branch are "under duress" and "under attack" from the Obama White House, saying that in opposing an Obama nominee, the Senate would be "defending its rights and defending our Article One (constitutional) powers."

In a Washington Post op-ed Monday, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid accused the GOP of "partisan sabotage" in blocking an Obama pick, saying "Republicans should not insult the American people's intelligence by pretending there is historical precedent for what they are about to do. There is not."

Reid suggested that refusing to even consider a nominee to the court by the president would send the Senate into "uncharted waters."

For Senate Republicans, he wrote, the "consequences of blocking any nominee, regardless of merits, would hang over their heads for the rest of their careers."

In the interview Tuesday, Ryan also spoke of Scalia personally, saying: "I knew him, I looked up to him so much, I respected the man greatly... my heart, my prayers go out to (his wife) Maureen and the family."

Ryan said the justice's death "puts us in a melancholy state as conservatives to lose such a giant like Antonin Scalia."

Ryan was asked in the interview about GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump's recent attacks on former George W. Bush over the decision to go to war in Iraq.

Ryan said, "Boy, I want to take that bait, but I just won't."

The speaker, who has tried to avoid commenting on controversial statements by GOP presidential candidates, said only: "I think people know the facts and I think people are sorting this out."

In not taking sides in the Republican primaries, Ryan has cited his largely ceremonial role as chairman of the GOP national convention this summer.

But in the interview, Ryan conceded that "there could arise a situation where it's more than just a ceremonial position."

He was referring to a scenario that has prompted growing speculation — the possibility of a contested convention in which no candidate comes in with a majority of delegates needed to be nominated.

Asked if he has thought about what that scenario would mean for his role as convention chairman, Ryan said, "I really haven't, but I better get on that sooner or later."

Then with a laugh, Ryan added, "I'm told about this. I keep thinking to myself, 'Yeah, I better figure out what exactly that means.'"