President Obama, already speaking with potential Supreme Court picks, today will huddle with key members of the Judiciary Committee tasked with confirmation hearings for his future nominee.
Administration aides tell me he’ll solicit their ideas for names he should add to his (longish) short list for consideration, and that Obama will tell members he wants the schedule for his nominee to be just as speedy as the one they followed last spring with Sonia Sotomayor.
A White House official told me that Obama is looking for someone “with a similar set of skills” to Justice John Paul Stevens, known for his ability to win over the other justices using compelling arguments and never backing down from a fight. The official said a nominee with a political background, such as a governor, would have the skills that could help build “a constructive 5-person majority and not just write articulate dissents.”
The names of potential nominees that have been out there — with Solicitor General Elena Kagan topping the list — are accurate, but the official said Obama may be adding new candidates after today’s meeting.
Obama nominated her May 26, 2009, and the administration thinks they are on track with a similar schedule or even sooner. In this post yesterday, I detailed the White House claim that Obama feels it’s “liberating” to choose a nominee of any political stripe since he thinks the GOP will oppose any person he picks.
Judiciary Committee Chairman Pat Leahy (D-VT) and ranking member Jeff Sessions (R-AL) will attend the private Oval Office discussion, along with Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
Sessions already has signaled the hearings won’t necessarily be smooth sailing, saying when Stevens retired that he didn’t agree with Obama’s “empathy” standard for selecting Sotomayor last year for the high court.
Conservative groups say their strategy is to target the same moderate Democrats who were wavering on health care reform. They are the usual suspects — Sens. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Ben Nelson (D-NE) and potentially Evan Bayh (D-IN), who is retiring. “There are Democrats who are persuadable,” said Tom Fitton of Judicial Watch.
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