Ninth Circuit Judge Paul Watford is the most likely nominee to replace Antonin Scalia (superseded)  —  This post has been revised and superseded here.  —  In thinking about how to respond to the vacancy on the Supreme Court, the administration has two priorities.  First, fill the Scalia seat by getting a nominee confirmed.

COULD OBAMA MAKE A RECESS APPOINTMENT TO REPLACE SCALIA?:  The answer appears to be “yes,” because (once again), the GOP-controlled Senate voluntarily has left itself vulnerable to the exercise of such presidential power.  Article II, section 2 of the Constitution gives the President power to fill vacancies …

Justice Scalia Died of Heart Attack, No Autopsy Planned, Breitbart Freaking Out  —  WFAA TV in Dallas reports that Justice Antonin Scalia's death was due to a heart attack; there are still conflicting reports about whether an autopsy will be performed, but the Washington Post says Scalia's family declined an autopsy.

Supreme Court vacancies in presidential election years  —  In the wake of the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, questions have arisen about whether there is a standard practice of not nominating and confirming Supreme Court Justices during a presidential election year.

Official: Scalia died of heart attack  —  MARFA, Texas — The death certificate for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia will list myocardial infarction — a heart attack — as the official cause of death, Presidio County Judge Cinderela Guevara told WFAA on Sunday.

Is a recess appointment to the Court an option?  (UPDATED)  —  UPDATED Sunday 8:48 a.m. The Senate is currently in recess until February 22.  The recess began on Friday.  Whether this opens an opportunity for a recess appointment depends upon how Senate leaders interpret an adjournment resolution approved last Friday.

Trump and Drudge for the win, again: Matt Drudge's army is bigger than the RNC's  —  Yes, Trump got booed by GOP loyalists at the debate.  But the reaction that matters, again, was afterwards on Drudge  —  Well, that was brutal.  Wasn't it?  The Republican presidential debate in South Carolina …

Donald Trump finally went too far for Republicans  —  Donald Trump finally made some bold and provocative claims that were largely true, and the Republican Party finally closed ranks to attack him.  —  Saying Mexican immigrants are rapists didn't do it.  Calling for a return of torture didn't do it.

The ‘You Lie’ Debate: Republicans Running Out of Time to Stop Trump in South Carolina  —  A Republican slugfest in South Carolina Saturday night pitted Marco Rubio against Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush against John Kasich and Donald Trump against just about all of them.