The White House insisted Thursday that it is not disappointed in Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval’s announcement that he’s not interested in becoming President Obama’s pick to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia.
“No, I don’t anybody is disappointed in it,” White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said when asked about the Republican governor’s announcement. “He’s entitled to make his own decisions about his own career.”
“I don’t really want to serve on the Supreme Court, either,” Earnest joked. “It seems like a really important job … Sketch me off the short list.”
“It’s certainly understandable that most people wouldn’t want to go through [the confirmation process],” he added.
Earnest also said that he does not think the difficulty of confirmation is dissuading qualified candidates.
“I don’t expect that it will. The kinds of people who actually are interested in a job like this, and are interested in the Supreme Court and a lifetime appointment, they understand that this is a rigorous process,” Earnest said.
Sandoval’s name was the first one floated by Democrats as someone to replace Scalia, but Republicans were immediately skeptical that his name was put out there to persuade the GOP to hold hearings and a vote on Obama’s nomination. Republicans have said they won’t consider any nominee from Obama, and want the next president to nominate someone for the open seat on the bench.
