The Highest Bench

Obama Court Pick by May 26

President meeting informally with candidates.

Supreme-Court watchers will have to wait no later than May 26 to learn who President Obama’s choice to replace outgoing Justice John Paul Stevens is. Obama is currently meeting informally with potential nominees, and a senior official tells The Hill that it’s “entirely likely” the president’s choice will come “well before then.” Republican intransigence, meanwhile, may backfire: "The president is making this decision with a pretty clear view that whoever he chooses is going to provoke a strong reaction on the right," another official tells Talking Points Memo, meaning that he could choose a more-liberal justice, since GOP opposition is a given no matter what.