Further hardening Democrats’ battle lines over a high-stakes Supreme Court vacancy, Sen. Harry Reid called out his Republican counterpart, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, as the “guardian of gridlock” who’s sabotaging the process to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia.

In a fiery floor speech, Reid said McConnell’s ploy to keep the Supreme Court short one member until the 2016 presidential election is taking the strategy of unilaterally blocking Obama’s agenda to a new level, undermining the Constitution as well as the two-party system of government.

Unfortunately, “it appears that the Republican leader and his colleagues have no intention of filling this important vacancy,” the Nevada Democrat said. “The Republican leader has repeatedly declared himself to be the proud guardian of gridlock. That’s a quote. And he’s lived up to that moniker, and that’s an understatement.”

Reid’s speech was the top-ranked Democrat’s first official response to the GOP’s strategy to warn Obama that making a nomination to replace Scalia — who was the keystone of the court’s 5-4 conservative majority — would be pointless.

But it also came amid some disarray among Republicans worried about the tough optics of opposing Obama for such a high-profile pick amid a highly contentious election year.

Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican and influential centrist, indicated she would welcome an Obama nomination, but she said the Senate should take the process “one step at a time.”

“For my part, it’s clear that the president can send up a nominee — regardless of where he is before he leaves office,” Collins said in an interview with CNN. “It is the duty of the Senate, under the Constitution, to give our advice and give our consent or withhold our consent. I believe we should follow the regular order and give careful consideration to any nominee that the president may send to the Senate.”

Meanwhile, Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois, a Republican who won Obama’s old Senate seat but is locked in a tough re-election battle, said the nominee for Scalia’s seat should get a public hearing and a Senate confirmation vote.

“I fully expect and look forward to President Barack Obama advancing a nominee for the Senate to consider,” Kirk wrote in an op-ed in The Chicago Sun-Times. “I also recognize my duty as a senator to either vote in support or opposition to that nominee following a fair and thorough hearing along with a complete and transparent release of all requested information.”

The fissures on the right come amid Obama’s strategy to dial up the public pressure on Republicans, forcing them to deal with a nominee to the highest court in the land. At his Monday briefing, White House press secretary Josh Earnest said the president is committed to nominating a candidate with impeccable credentials, and that the Senate should “do its job,” hold hearings and vote on his choice.

The sudden death of Scalia, 79, touched off an intense, constitutional-level fight between Obama and the Senate GOP majority over a position that could change the balance of power on the country’s highest court — and, by extension, change the direction of the nation.

Led by McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, a broad majority of his Senate colleagues declared that the next election should determine whether a Republican or Democratic president should fill the vacancy. But the White House pushed back, arguing that the GOP is using unparalleled obstructionism to try and preserve the court’s conservative majority.

The confrontation, however, presents Republicans with a Hobson’s choice: Remain unified in blocking Obama and risk being seen as obstructionist by voters in an election year with the White House and the Senate at stake; or allow the president the opportunity to uproot, possibly for decades, a Supreme Court majority that has sided with conservatives on issues ranging from voting rights to access to abortion.

In his speech, Reid said Republicans “have done everything possible to grind the will of the government to a halt” to stifle Obama’s agenda. “But now,” he added, “we’re seeing something from the Republican leader that is far worse than his usual brand of obstruction. We’re seeing an unprecedented attempt to hold hostage an entire branch of government.”

Republicans reportedly will huddle Tuesday to air out differences and map out a clear strategy.

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As GOP Splinters Over Scalia Vacancy, Reid Dials Up Pressure On McConnell originally appeared on usnews.com