The White House suggested Monday that President Obama could make a Supreme Court nominee around mid-March, by saying it has typically taken about 30 days to offer up nominees for the high court.
“[P]revious Supreme Court vacancies have taken about 30 days or so to fill,” spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters.
Earnest stressed that he had no specific information about the current process to fill the seat vacated by the late Justice Antonin Scalia. But the rough timetable of 30 days could mean Obama announces his pick in mid-March, as Scalia died on Feb. 13.
Earnest also said that as of Monday, the White House has not finalized a list of candidates.
“The president has continued to review materials that were compiled by his team,” Earnest said. “We are not in a place yet where the list has been closed, so the president’s not reviewing a final list at this point.”
“There can still be people added to the list for consideration,” he said later.
“Obviously, the president will do his due diligence and spend some time thoughtfully considering who the best person is to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court,” Earnest added. “He’s going to spend plenty of time talking to members of Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, about this decision.”
Obama will meet with both Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, on Tuesday to discuss the vacant seat. Those Republicans have said there is no circumstance under which they’d allow any Obama nominee to get a hearing and a vote, and say the next president should pick the nominee.
McConnell and Grassley said last week that the meeting with Obama wouldn’t end up changing their minds.
