Could this Republican governor be Obama's SCOTUS nominee?


Despite the fact that Senate Republicans have vowed to not even hold hearings for any Obama nominee to replace Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who died earlier this month, the president is forging ahead. The Washington Post reports that Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval (R) is being considered by the White House as a possible nominee to replace the late Scalia, who was the court's leading conservative voice.
But would the nomination of a moderate Republican like Sandoval change things for the Senate GOP? One Republican senator speaking off the record told The Washington Post that nominating Sandoval would "mix it up" for Republicans opposed to any Obama pick. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) — a centrist like Sandoval who is opposed to her party's strategy of blocking any Obama nomination — told The Washington Post that a potential Sandoval nomination "is one reason why I have not wanted to shut the door on considering a nominee."
"We may well be sent a nominee who is deserving of thorough vetting and consideration," Collins added.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
One individual who's signaled interest in a Sandoval nomination is the Nevada governor himself. Talking to The Morning Consult at a meeting of the National Governors Association in Washington, Sandoval said being considered "would be a privilege" and that the Supreme Court "is the essence of justice in this country."
Despite all this buzz, a number of Republican senators on the Judiciary Committee are saying that even if Sandoval were to be given the nomination, it wouldn't change their minds. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) was rather blunt in his assessment: "The short answer is no, it doesn't change anything."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Benjamin Shull is an assistant books editor with The Wall Street Journal and a contributor to The Week. Follow him on Twitter.
-
Canadian man dies in ICE custody
Speed Read A Canadian citizen with permanent US residency died at a federal detention center in Miami
-
GOP races to revise megabill after Senate rulings
Speed Read A Senate parliamentarian ruled that several changes to Medicaid included in Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" were not permissible
-
Supreme Court lets states ax Planned Parenthood funds
Speed Read The court ruled that Planned Parenthood cannot sue South Carolina over the state's effort to deny it funding
-
Trump plans Iran talks, insists nuke threat gone
Speed Read 'The war is done' and 'we destroyed the nuclear,' said President Trump
-
Trump embraces NATO after budget vow, charm offensive
Speed Read The president reversed course on his longstanding skepticism of the trans-Atlantic military alliance
-
Trump judge pick told DOJ to defy courts, lawyer says
Speed Read Emil Bove, a top Justice Department official nominated by Trump for a lifetime seat, stands accused of encouraging government lawyers to mislead the courts and defy judicial orders
-
Mamdani upsets Cuomo in NYC mayoral primary
Speed Read Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani beat out Andrew Cuomo in New York City's Democratic mayoral primary
-
Supreme Court clears third-country deportations
Speed Read The court allowed Trump to temporarily resume deporting migrants to countries they aren't from