Toomey says he, Senate GOP very unlikely to back Obama pick

(AP) — Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania held firm to his view that the next president should fill the U.S. Supreme Court's vacancy, and he said Thursday that it's very unlikely that he or a Senate majority would support President Barack Obama's nominee.

Toomey, who is running for a second term in the swing-state seat, backed Senate GOP Majority Leader Mitch McConnell earlier this week in arguing that a nominee for Justice Antonin Scalia's seat is best left to the next president.

If an Obama nominee comes to a vote, Toomey would oppose the nominee, he said, barring an unlikely Obama decision to nominate someone in Scalia's philosophical mold who would not change the court's balance.