Speaker Paul Ryan Paul Davis RyanAt indoor rally, Pence says election runs through Wisconsin Juan Williams: Breaking down the debates Peterson faces fight of his career in deep-red Minnesota district MORE (R-Wis.) said Tuesday that he supports the Republican push to block a Supreme Court nomination from President Obama to replace the late 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," Ryan told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

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"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," Ryan added.

Democrats have called on the Senate to move on a replacement, while Republican presidential candidates have said whoever wins in November should make the pick, not Obama.

Referencing the Republican push to block a third Obama nominee, Ryan told the newspaper that "Democrats would be doing exactly the same thing if the shoe were on the other foot."