WASHINGTON (AP) – Clandestine meetings. Soundproofed rooms. Top-secret instructions.
It sounds like the elements for a spy movie, but it’s become a hallmark of the undercover process for considering potential Supreme Court nominees.
The Obama administration is close to naming a replacement for Justice Antonin Scalia, who died last month and would have turned 80 on Friday. An announcement is expected soon, although whether a nominee can be confirmed by the Senate is in doubt. The Senate’s majority Republicans say the seat should be filled not by Obama, but by his successor.
If history is a guide, the White House will take elaborate precautions to make sure the choice for the lifetime seat is kept under wraps until the president is ready to reveal it.
Back in 2005, Samuel Alito was an appeals court judge based in New Jersey when he was summoned to Washington for a Saturday interview with President George W. Bush.