President Obama Expected To Announce Supreme Court Nominee Wednesday

One of These Two Men Will Likely Be the Next Nominee to the Supreme Court

It will have been 33 days since Justice Antonin Scalia’s death when President Barack Obama announces his nominee to the Supreme Court, likely on Wednesday, according to Reuters. The president has made quite clear he expects the U.S. Senate to fulfill its constitutional duties and hold an up or down vote on whomever he chooses. 

“President Barack Obama is likely to announce either Judge Sri Srinivasan or Judge Merrick Garland as his pick for a Supreme Court nominee as early as Wednesday, a source familiar with the selection process said on Tuesday,” Reuters reports tonight.

Both jurists are considered moderates, which many liberals will find distasteful.

Late last week the list was at three. It appears the youngest, Judge Paul Watford, of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, has been removed from the shortlist.

Here’s how NPR describes the two potential nominees:

Garland, the oldest at 63, is also by far the most experienced, a moderate liberal, with a long history as a prosecutor prior to joining the appeals court in 1997. In 2013 he became chief judge of the appeals court. Widely respected, he has few political pluses for the president, as he is neither female nor a member of any minority group. In addition, he has a 19-year judicial paper trail for opponents to flyspeck. But he is highly regarded by Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and liberals. Indeed, Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch helped secure his confirmation to the appeals court.

Judge Srinivasan, 49, worked in the solicitor general’s office in both the Bush and Obama administrations. Obama nominated him to the D.C. Appeals Court in 2012, and he was confirmed a year later by a vote of 97-0. He has less than a three-year judicial record, which in confirmation terms can be a plus, as now-Chief Justice John Roberts learned when he was nominated to the high court. Srinivasan was born in India and came to the U.S. with his parents as a child; if nominated, he would be the first Supreme Court nominee of South Asian descent.

 

IMAGE: Merrick Garland (photo, left) Sri Srinivasan (photo, right) via Wikimedia