Obama considers top Republican to replace Scalia

Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval

President Obama may have decided on a Supreme Court nominee who could break Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's pledge of "no action" until after the 2016 election: Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval.

The Kentucky senator said there was "overwhelming" consensus on Tuesday that Obama's desire to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia before leaving office would go unfulfilled. The president appears to be considering Sandoval, a popular but moderate Republican, as his nominee to complicate Republicans' political calculus.

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"I don't pick the justices, but I know if he were picked, I would support the man," Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid told reporters in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. "He's a good person, has a great record, and has been a tremendously good governor in spite of having to deal with some very big problems there."

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A White House source confirmed to CNN that Sandoval was being vetted.

Harryr Reid

Sandoval was nominated as a district court judge in 2005 by former President George W. Bush. He stepped down from the bench in 2009 to run for governor. His record indicates he is friendly to Democrats' position on abortion and environmental issues.

"Nominating Sandoval would carry risks for Obama," the Washington Post wrote Wednesday. "Sandoval is not seen as labor-friendly – potentially alienating a swath of the Democratic base. His legal credentials are also lacking compared to some of the other names under consideration who are mainly sitting federal judges."

The newspaper noted, however, that Sandoval does support the implementation of Obamacare and considers same-sex marriage a "settled issue."

“It would be a privilege,” Sandoval told the Morning Consult on Sunday when asked about a possible nomination by Obama.

The White House declined to comment for the Post's story, but Obama did mention the nomination process on the SCOTUSBlog website.

"A sterling record. A deep respect for the judiciary's role. An understanding of the way the world really works. That's what I'm considering as I fulfill my constitutional duty to appoint a judge to our highest court," Obama wrote. "And as senators prepare to fulfill their constitutional responsibility to consider the person I appoint, I hope they'll move quickly to debate and then confirm this nominee so that the Court can continue to serve the American people at full strength."

President Obama

Conservative pundit Ann Coulter said shortly after Scalia's Feb. 13 death that failure by Republicans in the Senate to block Obama's nominees would result in a tsunami of new support for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

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“Look, if they let somebody go through, I mean, I think Trump is going to win anyway but it’s just going to get him another ten million votes,” Coulter told Breitbart News on Sirius XM Feb. 14.

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