Newsmax
Who will it be?
President Barack Obama could announce his second nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court as soon as this week,administration officials said,although they declined on Tuesday to say how many names were left on his short list of candidates.
Obama has been expected to decide quickly on who he would like to fill the seat being vacated by retiring Justice John Paul Stevens,with critical congressional elections looming in November.
Elena Kagan,the U.S. solicitor general;Diane Wood,a U.S. appeals court judge in Chicago;Merrick Garland,an appeals court judge in Washington,D.C.;and Sidney Thomas,an appeals court judge in San Francisco,are the four names most generally considered as favorites for the pick.
Administration officials have confirmed that all are on Obama’s short list of candidates,and that Obama has interviewed at least some of them in person. They had said the short list included about 10 names.
Stevens is the Supreme Court’s leading liberal. The Democratic president’s pick is not expected to shift the ideological balance of the closely divided court,which now has five conservatives and four liberals.