In an apparent bid to force Senate Republicans to consider his proposed Supreme Court nomination in place of the late Justice Antonin Scalia, President Barack Obama is reportedly considering Brian Sandoval, the centrist Republican Governor of Nevada and a former federal judge, for the top post.
Citing two unnamed persons “familiar with the process”, The Washington Post reported on Thursday that Sandoval was being “increasingly viewed by some key Democrats as perhaps the only nominee President Obama could select who would be able to break a Republican blockade in the Senate”.
The White House, however, refused to confirm or deny that Sandoval was being vetted, with spokesman Josh Earnest commenting that it would not be helpful for him to “get into a rhythm of reporting” to each report speculating on potential Supreme Court nominees. Sri Srinivasan, the Indian-American Judge of US Court of Appeals for the highly-influential District of Columbia Circuit, had so far topped the list of potential nominees speculated by media and legal circles ever since the vacancy arose with sudden death of Justice Scalia on February 13.
The latest speculation about Sandoval, who was Nevada’s first Hispanic federal judge before his election as governor in 2010, came a day after Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell ruled out any Senate consideration of an Obama nominee to the apex court, reiterating that the decision should be left to the next president.