Obama to hold bipartisan meeting on Supreme Court vacancy
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President Obama will meet with senators from both parties April 21 to discuss how to handle the upcoming vacancy on the Supreme Court, the White House announced Tuesday.
Scheduled to attend are Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, (D-Vt.) and the ranking Republican on the committee, Jeff Sessions of Alabama.
They are expected to discuss the procedures for the confirmation hearings expected over the summer so that the new justice can take a seat on the bench by the fall term.
Obama has yet to name a nominee to replace Justice John Paul Stevens, who recently announced his retirement from the Supreme Court at the end of the current term. The candidate will have to go through hearings held by the Judiciary Committee before a vote by the full Senate.
The White House this week revealed that among the contenders was federal appeals court Judge Sidney Thomas of Montana, and at least six others who were on the list when Obama chose Justice Sonia Sotomayor for the court.
Among those considered potential nominees are: former Georgia Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears, federal appeals court judges Diane Wood and Merrick Garland, Solicitor General Elena Kagan, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.
Republican leaders have said they will examine the nominee carefully, but it is unclear whether there will be a filibuster. Democrats no longer have a sure 60 votes needed to break any logjam.
[Updated at 10:49 a.m.: “We are hopeful that this time around the president will select someone with extensive real-world legal experience and a demonstrated commitment to the rule of law,” McConnell said in a prepared statement.
“Once the president submits his nominee, Senate Republicans will diligently review his or her record so the American people can be confident that they’ll be able to fulfill the judicial oath, namely, to administer ‘justice without respect to persons and to do right by the poor and by the rich.’ I am hopeful that at the end of the day, I and other Republicans will be convinced that the nominee will be able to do so.”]
--Michael Muskal
