Washington waits Monday for an announcement by President Obama of his pick to replace to the late Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court, a move expected to set a battle over Senate Republicans’ plan to deny Obama an opportunity to fill the seat.
After Obama met Thursday with Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, congressional aides said they were bracing for a pick as soon as Monday. President Obama’s public schedule Monday leaves his entire afternoon open.
The White House has narrowed potential picks for the seat to three candidates: Chief Judge Merrick Garland, 63, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit;Sri Srinivasan, 49, who sits on the same court; and Paul Watford, 48, a judge U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, based in California.
Democrats have dropped from consideration Jane Kelly, a federal appellate court judge in Iowa. In eyeing Kelly, a former defense lawyer whom Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley has lavishly praised, the White House hoped in part to make Grassley uncomfortable with his vow to deny a nominee even a committee hearing, through a plan critics say was imposed on the Iowa senator by the party’s Tea Party wing and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who fears a fight with conservative critics.
Srinivasan, who would be the first person of Indian descent on the court, appears to be the most likely choice. He is the youngest candidate, and won a unanimous confirmation when Obama put him on the D.C. Appeals Court. His moderate record in rulings also leaves little to fault, Democrats reason.
Though Republicans have vowed to deny any Obama nominee a hearing, or even personal meetings, Democrats think a clearly qualified candidate like Srinivasan will maximize pressure on vulnerable Senate Republicans already eyeing polls that show a majority of voters in their party and independents around the country want the Senate to consideration a nominee this year.
As part of a plan to boost pressure on the GOP, Politico reported Sunday, Obama contracted campaign veterans to initiate a media and political push in six states — New Hampshire, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Iowa, where they think Republican’s plan to block any judge will draw voter opposition.
Both left- and right-leaning groups are already advertising in efforts to influence senators in those states.
