Obama expects to nominate new justice by end of May
Washington: President Barack Obama said
on Wednesday he would name a new nominee for the US Supreme Court by
the end of next month, and urged Senate leaders to ensure a
"smooth" confirmation process.
The president also said he would seek a nominee who took
into account women's rights but said he would not impose a
formal "litmus test" on a potential candidate's views on the
hot-button issue of abortion.
Obama noted that the Senate confirmation formalities for
his first Supreme Court pick, Justice Sonia Sotomayor were
"smooth" and "civil" and said he hoped for a similar approach
from all sides this year.
"Last time the nomination went out at the end of May.
We're certainly going to meet that deadline. We hope that
maybe we can accelerate a little bit," Obama told reporters in
the Oval Office.
He was joined at a meeting on his future nominee by
Senate Majority leader Harry Reid, and Richard Leahy, chairman
of the chamber's Judiciary Committee.
Senate Republican minority leader Mitch McConnell and
Senator Jeff Sessions the top Republican on the Judiciary
Committee, were also at the talks, ahead of what could be a
heated partisan fight in a mid-term election year.
PTI