{"id":15783,"date":"2016-02-16T09:01:43","date_gmt":"2016-02-16T17:01:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spijue.wpengine.com\/news\/who-obama-might-nominate-to-the-supreme-court\/"},"modified":"2016-02-16T09:01:43","modified_gmt":"2016-02-16T17:01:43","slug":"who-obama-might-nominate-to-the-supreme-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/news\/who-obama-might-nominate-to-the-supreme-court\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Obama might nominate to the Supreme Court"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON \u2014<\/strong> Republicans are near-unanimous in demanding that President Barack Obama leave it to his successor to nominate a candidate to fill the Supreme Court seat of the late Justice Antonin Scalia. But the president insists he plans to come forward with a nominee \u2014 and that there\u2019s plenty of time for the Senate to weigh in.<\/p>\n

That sets up what could be an epic election-year clash between Obama and Republicans who say they\u2019ll refuse to vote for his nominee, who could reshape the court for decades to come.<\/p>\n

So who will Obama pick?<\/p>\n

The White House had prepared for the possibility of liberal Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg or Stephen Breyer retiring \u2014 but less so for a sudden vacancy of one of the court\u2019s staunch conservatives like Scalia, said a former administration lawyer with knowledge of current White House planning. Now the White House is scrambling to put together a \u201cshort list\u201d of candidates to be fully vetted, said the former official, who requested anonymity to discuss private conversations.<\/p>\n

The biggest question facing Obama: whether he and his team feel there\u2019s any realistic chance they can persuade Republicans to allow a vote.<\/p>\n

If the answer is yes, Obama would have to try to find a perfect candidate with enough appeal to Republicans to change their minds. A sitting senator or someone recently confirmed might do the trick.<\/p>\n

If the answer is no, Obama could try to use his selection to political advantage in this year\u2019s elections by nominating someone who would spark backlash if Republicans oppose him or her. Picking a minority or someone from a battleground state in the election could rile up the Democratic base.<\/p>\n

The White House said Sunday that Obama will nominate someone \u201cin due time\u201d once the Senate returns next week from recess. Obama took roughly a month to nominate Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, but this time the clock is ticking like never before.<\/p>\n

Obama hasn\u2019t said who he\u2019s considering, but some Cabinet members, politicians and current judges are being prominently floated as possible picks:<\/p>\n\n

The Cabinet members<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Attorney General Loretta Lynch<\/p>\n

Though Lynch\u2019s nomination was fraught with politics, she\u2019s been recently confirmed and has been received relatively well by both parties since taking over the Justice Department less than a year ago. Before Obama promoted her, Lynch was a U.S. attorney for a key district based in Brooklyn. An African-American woman has never served on the Supreme Court. But her role in the Obama administration could prove divisive.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson<\/p>\n

Johnson has serious credentials in many critical areas of the law, having served as the Pentagon\u2019s general counsel and as a federal prosecutor. He has the benefit of having been Senate-confirmed multiple times \u2014 most recently in 2013 by an overwhelming majority. But Republicans loathe Obama\u2019s executive actions on immigration that Johnson\u2019s department put forward and are currently before the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n\n

The politicians<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 California Attorney General Kamala Harris<\/p>\n

Elected statewide in California in 2010, Harris is a longtime prosecutor and rising Democratic star who has drawn occasional comparisons with Obama. She\u2019s currently running to replace California Sen. Barbara Boxer. Obama has made no secret of his affection for Harris; He once had to apologize after making an offhand joke that Harris was the country\u2019s best-looking attorney general.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar<\/p>\n

Picking a current colleague of the senators who will be voting on Obama\u2019s nominee could be one strategy to increase prospects for a vote. Klobuchar, in her second Senate term, is a former prosecutor and member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch<\/p>\n

The Republican senator would be nominated only if Obama decided it would be better to pick a candidate Democrats didn\u2019t love than risk a Republican successor making the choice for him. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has suggested Obama go with a \u201cconsensus pick\u201d like Hatch. He\u2019s also a key holdout in getting Senate approval for Obama\u2019s Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal.<\/p>\n\n

The judges<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Sri Srinivasan, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit<\/p>\n

With a compelling personal story, Srinivasan has long been eyed for the high court. Born in India, Srinivasan clerked for former Justice Sandra Day O\u2019Connor \u2014 a Republican. He has the added appeal of having been confirmed unanimously less than three years ago.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Merrick Garland, chief judge, U.S. Court for Appeals of the District of Columbia Circuit<\/p>\n

Garland is a Harvard Law School graduate whose name has long been in the mix. He\u2019s considered a moderate judge and has experience on the D.C. circuit, which handles many cases involving administration actions.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Paul Watford, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit<\/p>\n

Watford once served as a law clerk to Ginsburg, and worked as a federal prosecutor before Obama appointed him to the San Francisco-based court. An African-American, Watford was confirmed 61-34 in 2012.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Jacqueline Nguyen, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit<\/p>\n

Nguyen would be the first Asian-American on the Supreme Court. She emigrated as a child from Vietnam and worked as an assistant U.S. attorney and a judge in California before Obama nominated her to federal courts.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Patricia Millett, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit<\/p>\n

Obama nominated Millett in 2013 after John Roberts joined the Supreme Court as chief justice. Her nomination lingered for months amid a fight about the filibuster. Millett had experience in the U.S. Solicitor General\u2019s office, arguing dozens of cases before the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Robert Wilkins, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit<\/p>\n

A chemical engineer by training, Wilkins was a public defender before being appointed by Obama to federal positions. Wilkins, an African-American, was raised by a single mother and is known for his involvement in civil rights issues.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Jane Kelly, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit<\/p>\n

Kelly, a former public defender, was unanimously confirmed to the St. Louis-based court. She\u2019s earned praise from Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee. But Grassley has joined Republicans in urging delay until after the election.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Associated Press writer Mark Sherman contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON \u2014 Republicans are near-unanimous in demanding that President Barack Obama leave it to his successor to nominate a candidate to fill the Supreme Court seat of the late Justice Antonin Scalia. But the president insists he plans to come forward with a nominee \u2014 and that there\u2019s plenty of time for the Senate to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":4,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[65],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-15783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-nation-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15783","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15783"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15783\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15783"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=15783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}