TPM: Obama Nears SCOTUS Decision - could come this week.

TPM: Obama Nears SCOTUS Decision
by mcjoan
Tue May 04, 2010 at 06:16:04 PM PDT

TPM's Christina Bellantoni reports that Congressional and White House sources say that President Obama's Supreme Court pick could come as early as this week.

Congressional and White House sources told me they think it's possible there will be a nominee by the end of this week, but certainly in the coming two weeks.

For weeks the White House stressed the process was "very early" in, but aides said today that "it's moved along quite a bit in the last week." Obama's short-ish list of nine candidates (detailed here) hasn't expanded, but "he's not at a place where he's crossed people off the list," an administration official told me today....

When Obama met personally with Kagan, D.C. Circuit Appeals Court Judge Merrick Garland and Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Judge Sidney Thomas in the last week, he asked them not about specific rulings, precedents or issues that would come before the high court but instead about their general judicial philosophy. The official told me Obama is treating it like a conversation where he's aiming to see how well they understand how legal rulings impact the lives of everyday Americans, one of his top priorities for the pick. Some of the meetings have been in the Oval Office. Obama has had "general conversations" on the phone with the candidates he hasn't met in person, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Friday.

Today Obama and Biden met separately with Diane Wood, federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Obama earlier also met with federal appeals judges Merrick Garland. Kagan, Thomas, Wood, and Garland seem to be a pretty safe short list.

With the Senate focused this week on financial reform, and the administration having to deal with the massive environmental disaster in the Gulf, the decision could vey well be delayed into next week.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/5/4/863103/-TPM:-Obama-Nears-SCOTUS-Decision?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+dailykos%2Findex+%28Daily+Kos%29

strategy seems to be pretty good as well.

I'm hoping for the most liberal possible nominee -- someone who will offend Jeff Sessions right out of the gate.

That likely would be just about anyone President Obama nominates...

:thumbsup:

:hi:

With the majority they have in the Senate, he should be shooting for Liberals like Pam Karlan or Kathleen Sullivan. Even Deval Patrick. Replacing Stevens with one of these 4? ugh