President Obama moved swiftly last year in nominating Sonia Sotomayor for a vacancy on the court in less than a month, and Democrats are pushing for him to operate on the same time line now that he’ll be filling Justice John Paul Stevens’ seat.
White House aides last year said Obama, who learned of the retirement this morning on a flight back from Prague, would definitely consider others from his 2009 short list should there be another vacancy. When the White House wrote a new policy releasing names of visitors for the first time, the administration carved out an exception to allow potential nominees to slip by. Aides at the time specifically cited the Supreme Court nomination process as why they would allow for the exception to the new transparency policy.
Justice David Souter announced his retirement May 1, 2009 and Obama nominated Sotomayor May 26. The confirmation fight played out over the summer, with a final vote Aug. 6, and she was seated with plenty of time to help get settled and to participate in the choosing of the court’s fall caseload. Congressional sources told me they’d like to see Stevens and the White House operate on the same time frame. One way for him to do that would be looking at his list from last year.
(See our post on contenders here.)
Democrats said the nominee’s background will shape their political strategy for confirmation hearings, but said they expect smooth sailing from a process standpoint since, “We did just go through this last year.”
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, having recently undergone cancer treatment, also could choose to retire in the next year. That means any list the White House is crafting may get a third look before Obama faces reelection in November 2012.
Obama huddled with both Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and ranking member Jeff Sessions (R-AL) before announcing Sotomayor — so expect a series of Oval Office meetings in coming days. Last spring, senior administration officials told reporters they would use every resource to battle right-wing attacks on their nominee. “I hesitate to use the term war room because we’re not anticipating a war … [but] she’s going to get full backing of the White House and all the resources that are necessary to get the information to the senate to make the right decision.”
