Obama is considering a surprising US Supreme Court pick

AP Photo/David Becker, File

Brian Sandoval, the centrist Republican governor of Nevada, is reportedly being vetted by the Obama administration to replace Justice Antonin Scalia on the US Supreme Court.

Sources familiar with the process told The Washington Post and Reuters that Sandoval met with Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, a Democratic senator from Nevada, on Monday on Capitol Hill.

Reid reportedly asked Sandoval whether he'd be interested in the job.

"He said he was interested," the source told Reuters.

In an email to Business Insider, Sandoval's camp said he hadn't been contacted by the Obama administration about the vacancy on the court.

"Neither Gov. Sandoval nor his staff has been contacted by or talked to the Obama administration regarding any potential vetting for the vacancy on the US Supreme Court," said Mari St. Martin, Sandoval's communications director.

Nominating a Republican to the court could be the only way for Obama to break Senate Republicans' resolve to wait to fill the vacancy until Obama leaves office. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky senator, pledged on Tuesday that the Senate would not hold a hearing for Obama's eventual nominee.

Sandoval has a bipartisan record, according to The Post. He holds relatively liberal stances on abortion rights and the environment, and as governor he accepted Medicaid expansion as a part of Obamacare — something many GOP governors have refused to do.

Faiz Shakir, an adviser to Reid, told Business Insider by email that the senator would approve if Obama chose Sandoval to replace Scalia.

"Senator Reid thinks very highly of Gov. Sandoval and would be supportive if he was President Obama's choice," Shakir said.

AP Photo/David Becker, File

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest declined to comment on the speculation surrounding Sandoval in Wednesday's press briefing, but sources close to the process told The Post that Sandoval is being vetted for the nomination. The White House also declined to comment in an email exchange with Business Insider.

It's not clear how many potential nominees are currently being vetted by the administration. In a Wednesday posting on SCOTUSblog, Obama listed three characteristics he wants from a nominee: that the person is "eminently" qualified, that they respect the limits of the Supreme Court, and that they have life experience "outside the classroom and the courtroom."

Sandoval, for his part, told The Morning Consult that "it would be a privilege" to be nominated to the court.

He added that the Supreme Court is "the essence of justice in this country."

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