By Bronte Price, PoliticKING
According to the SCOTUSblog, Attorney General Loretta Lynch is the most likely candidate to replace Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court. Scalia, who was 79, died at a luxury ranch in Texas on Sunday.
Some Republicans including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, fear that Obama’s nomination will tip the ideological balance of the Supreme Court in a liberal direction. McConnell has made it clear that he believes the next president, not Obama, should be responsible for appointing a justice. GOP presidential candidates Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, have also made similar statements.
Before Kennedy/Bork, SCOTUS noms were about qualifications. Now it's all ideology: pic.twitter.com/jD0xTmdRsD
— Kevin Glass (@KevinWGlass) February 14, 2016
Tom Goldstein, who runs the SCOTUSblog, made the prediction that the nomination will go to Loretta Lynch in a post on Sunday. She is a "very serious possibility," Goldstein wrote. "The fact that Lynch was vetted so recently for attorney general also makes it practical for the president to nominate her in relatively short order."
He added that the administration would relish the prospect of Republicans either refusing to give Lynch a vote or seeming to treat her unfairly in the confirmation process. He said that this would, "either eventuality motivate both black and women voters." Goldstein said that since Lynch would be the first black woman to ever be nominated to the Supreme Court, the GOP would have a political problem during the current election year if they refused to even consider her nomination.
.@SCOTUSblog names AG Loretta Lynch as most likely to receive Supreme Court nomination: https://t.co/Eqi1WYrlAppic.twitter.com/PuLeeHo36T
— AJ+ (@ajplus) February 16, 2016
“The fact that Lynch was vetted so recently for Attorney General also makes it practical for the president to nominate her in relatively short order. There is some imperative to move quickly, because each passing week strengthens the intuitive appeal of the Republican argument that it is too close to the election to confirm the nominee.”
Another likely candidate on Obama’s short list is Sri Srinivasan who the Senate voted 97-0 to confirm to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. During the confirmation process, Srinivasan earned broad support from both Democrats and Republicans. If nominated, Srinivasan would be the first Indian-American to serve on the Supreme Court.
The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of Ora Media, LLC, its affiliates, or its employees.
