Supreme Court Justice David Souter’s planned retirement touches off a fierce fight between the parties that could reinvigorate moping Republicans and, depending on his choice, enhance or tarnish President Barack Obama’s bipartisan image.
Within hours of Thursday night’s leak about Souter’s plans, Republicans were circulating claims that potential nominees were “liberal” and “activist,” and pointing reporters to comments that Obama and Vice President Joe Biden had made about the confirmation process when they were in the Senate.
Souter, 69, is squarely in the court’s liberal branch, even though he was appointed by President George H.W. Bush, so the retirement is unlikely to result in any deep shift in the balance of power.
The White House had thought that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 76, might be the first vacancy Obama would have a chance to fill, and the unofficial lists of potential nominees are topped by women.
White House Counsel Gregory Craig will play the lead role in the selection process. Biden presided over six confirmation hearing when he was Judiciary Committee chairman, five of them for current justices.
The president faces competing imperatives in replacing Souter, including the pressure to appoint the first Hispanic to the Supreme Court and his own ties to prominent legal academics beginning with his years at Harvard Law School.
Within hours of Thursday night’s leak about Souter’s plans, Republicans were circulating claims that potential nominees were “liberal” and “activist,” and pointing reporters to comments that Obama and Vice President Joe Biden had made about the confirmation process when they were in the Senate.
Souter, 69, is squarely in the court’s liberal branch, even though he was appointed by President George H.W. Bush, so the retirement is unlikely to result in any deep shift in the balance of power.
The White House had thought that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 76, might be the first vacancy Obama would have a chance to fill, and the unofficial lists of potential nominees are topped by women.
White House Counsel Gregory Craig will play the lead role in the selection process. Biden presided over six confirmation hearing when he was Judiciary Committee chairman, five of them for current justices.
The president faces competing imperatives in replacing Souter, including the pressure to appoint the first Hispanic to the Supreme Court and his own ties to prominent legal academics beginning with his years at Harvard Law School.
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