WASHINGTON — President Obama has not said whom he is considering for the Supreme Court, but some Cabinet members, politicians, and federal judges are being prominently floated as possible picks:
¦ Attorney General Loretta Lynch: Though Lynch’s nomination was fraught with politics, she has been received relatively well by both parties since taking over the Justice Department less than a year ago. Before Obama promoted her, Lynch was a US attorney for a key district based in Brooklyn. Her role in the Obama administration could prove to be divisive.
¦ Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson: Johnson has serious credentials in many critical areas of the law, having served as the Pentagon’s general counsel and as a federal prosecutor. He has the benefit of having been confirmed by the Senate multiple times. But Republicans loathe Obama’s executive actions on immigration that Johnson’s department put forward.
¦ California Attorney General Kamala Harris: Elected statewide in California in 2010, Harris is a longtime prosecutor and rising Democratic star who has drawn occasional comparisons with Obama. She’s currently running to replace Senator Barbara Boxer of California.
¦ Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar: Picking a current colleague of the senators who will be voting on Obama’s nominee could be one strategy to increase prospects for a vote. Klobuchar, in her second Senate term, is a former prosecutor and member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
¦ Utah Senator Orrin Hatch: The Republican senator would be nominated only if Obama decided it would be better to pick a candidate Democrats didn’t love. Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, has suggested Obama go with a ‘‘consensus pick’’ like Hatch.
¦ Judge Sri Srinivasan: On the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Srinivasan has long been eyed for the high court. Born in India, he clerked for former Justice Sandra Day O’Connor — a Republican. He has the added appeal of having been confirmed unanimously less than three years ago.
¦ Judge Patricia Millett: On the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, Millett was nominated by Obama in 2013 after John Roberts joined the Supreme Court as chief justice. Her nomination lingered for months amid a fight about the filibuster. Millett had experience in the US solicitor general’s office, arguing cases before the Supreme Court.
¦ Judge Merrick Garland: The chief judge of the US Court for Appeals of the District of Columbia, Garland is a Harvard Law School graduate whose name has long been in the mix. He’s considered a moderate judge and has experience on the D.C. circuit, which handles many cases involving administration actions.
¦ Judge Paul Watford: On the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Watford once served as a law clerk to Ginsburg and worked as a federal prosecutor before Obama appointed him to the San Francisco-based court. An African-American, Watford was confirmed, 61 to 34, in 2012.
¦ Judge Jacqueline Nguyen: On the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Nguyen would be the first Asian-American on the Supreme Court. She emigrated as a child from Vietnam and worked as an assistant US attorney and a judge in California before Obama nominated her to federal courts.
¦ Judge Robert Wilkins: On the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, Wilkins was a public defender before being appointed by Obama to federal positions. Wilkins, an African-American and a chemical engineer by training, was raised by a single mother.
¦ Judge Jane Kelly: On the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, Kelly had served as a public defender before being unanimously confirmed to the St. Louis-based court. She’s earned praise from Senator Chuck Grassley, Republican of Iowa, but the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman has since urged delay of the nomination to replace Scalia.
Associated Press
