U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has died at age 79, the U.S. Marshals Service confirmed Saturday afternoon.
According to CNN, the conservative justice died in his sleep on a trip to Texas. A government official told CNN that Scalia said he didn't feel well Friday night before bed, and he didn't show up for breakfast Saturday morning.
Scalia was the Supreme Court's longest-serving justice. He was nominated to the high court by President Ronald Reagan and took his seat Sept. 26, 1986.
GOP Senate Leader Mitch McConnell said the Supreme Court vacancy should not be filled until there is a new president, the Associated Press reported.
In a live statement from the White House on Saturday night, President Barack Obama said he will seek to fill the Supreme Court seat left vacant by Scalia's death, charging into a heated and likely prolonged election-year fight with Republicans in Congress.
Obama said a nomination was "bigger than any one party.'' With a half-dozen or more major cases before the court, Obama said he pIans to fulfill his constitutional responsibility to nominate a successor in due time. He said the Senate should have "plenty of time ... to give that person a fair hearing and timely vote.''
In a statement, Chief Justice John Roberts said: "On behalf of the Court and retired Justices, I am saddened to report that our colleague Justice Antonin Scalia has passed away. He was an extraordinary individual and jurist, admired and treasured by his colleagues. His passing is a great loss to the Court and the country he so loyally served."
Scalia used his keen intellect and missionary zeal in an unyielding attempt to move the court farther to the right and to get it to embrace his "originalist'' view of judging after his 1986 appointment.
Republican presidential candidate and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio said, "Today, our nation has suffered a deep loss. Justice Scalia was one of the most consequential Americans in our history and a brilliant legal mind who served with only one objective: to interpret and defend the Constitution as written. ... The next president must nominate a justice who will continue Justice Scalia's unwavering belief in the founding principles that we hold dear."
Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi said, "Justice Scalia, one of the greatest legal minds of the last 100 years, passionately upheld the rule of law and served honorably on our nation’s highest court. He leaves behind a legacy of just service to our judiciary and loyalty for the U.S. Constitution."
Florida Senator Bill Nelson also released a statement on Justice Scalia's passing, saying "I am stunned since Justice Scalia seemed to be in the prime of his life. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family. And I take very seriously our constitutional responsibility to fill this vacancy."
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.