PHOTOS - Antonin Scalia: The Supreme Court Justice’s Life in Pictures 
 
 Four out of the past seven funerals for a Supreme Court justice have either had the president or vice president in attendance. President Barack Obama is preparing for a fierce battle with the Senate over the Supreme Court vacancy, but he’s not planning to attend Justice Antonin Scalia’s funeral — a decision that puzzled even some of his allies and incensed conservative media. Story Continued Below 
 
 Fox News host Sean Hannity blasted out his own site's article that dismissed the decision as disappointingly expected: “Obama To SKIP Scalia Funeral, Here's A List Of OTHER Funerals He Was Too Busy To Attend.” 
 
 White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest revealed the president’s plans during the daily briefing, saying Obama and first lady Michelle Obama will go to the Supreme Court on Friday “to pay their respects to Justice Scalia” while the justice lies in repose in the Great Hall. Vice President Joe Biden will attend Scalia’s funeral at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, the White House said Wednesday during a press briefing. “The president, obviously, believes it's important for the institution of the presidency to pay his respects to somebody who dedicated three decades of his life to the institution of the Supreme Court,” Earnest said, adding that Friday marked an “important opportunity” to pay those respects. Former President Bill Clinton attended the funerals for former Chief Justice Warren E. Burger and Justice William Brennan but did not attend the funerals for Justices Harry Blackmun or Lewis F. Powell Jr. 
 
 Former Vice President Al Gore attended the funeral for Justice Thurgood Marshall. In the immediate aftermath of Scalia’s death last weekend, Obama praised his wit and predicted that he would be remembered as one of the “most consequential judges and thinkers to serve.” 
 
 Confronted with a series of questions during a press conference on Tuesday about Republican plans to block a nominee, Obama was careful to again express gratitude for Scalia’s service before launching into a Constitutional lecture directed at the opposing party.
– In what some conservative commentators are calling a major snub, President Obama will not be attending Antonin Scalia's funeral on Saturday. Instead, Joe Biden will attend the service at Washington DC's Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, NBC reports. "The president will pay his respects at the Supreme Court on Friday and he'll be joined with the first lady when he does that," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters. Earnest didn't take the bait when he was asked whether Obama plans to go golfing on Saturday, but said the president "believes it's important for the institution of the presidency to pay his respects to somebody who dedicated three decades of his life to the institution of the Supreme Court." The decision surprised some Obama allies, who said skipping the funeral will do nothing to reduce partisanship, reports Politico, which notes that Obama has praised Scalia as one of the "most consequential judges and thinkers to serve." Some of those close to the Scalia family don't have a problem with Obama being a no-show. "I wouldn't have expected President Obama to attend the funeral Mass, and I see no reason to fault him for not attending," former Scalia clerk Ed Whelan says. "The ceremony at the Supreme Court seems the most apt opportunity for the president to pay his respects, but he obviously might have severe competing demands on his time." (Obama says he plans to nominate an "indisputably qualified" candidate to replace Scalia on the court.)