President Obama to nominate US Supreme Court justice
US President Barack Obama may nominate a federal judge in the state of Iowa for the US Supreme Court to replace Justice Antonin Scalia who died last month.
Jane Kelly, a federal appeals court judge in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, would be the third woman Obama has nominated for the highest court in the country.
Kelly, who was born in 1964, is a native of Indiana state and a Harvard Law School classmate of Obama’s.
She was a college professor and federal public defender in Cedar Rapids before joining the appeals court.
Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid said on Wednesday that Obama is close to submitting to the US Senate a Supreme Court nomination to fill the vacancy left by Scalia.
The possible selection of Kelly comes at a critical time as the next Supreme Court justice will likely reshape America’s top court for decades to come.
The timing is especially important for Democrats given this year’s presidential election showdown with Republicans.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is conducting background interviews on Kelly, a mandatory step for any potential Supreme Court judge.
A person familiar with the process said Obama’s likely to make his selection in the next two weeks. The White House has also shortlisted several other candidates.
Supreme Court Justices are nominated for life by the president and are confirmed by the Senate by majority vote. Republican lawmakers and presidential candidates have made clear they would not support an Obama nominee.
Scalia, who died on February 13 at the age of 79, was the court’s longest-serving member and the intellectual anchor in the Supreme Court's conservative wing.
Democrats, however, say it is the president's responsibility and right to make the choice.
Americans will select a new president in the November presidential elections. Obama leaves office in January 2017.
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