Let’s Talk Politics

In the wake of Justice Souter’s announcement of retirement, the Obama administration has sorted through a flood of potential applicants.  Although no formal short list has been released, the White House said it has slected a list–about a dozen names–that it was considering.  The list could be getting longer.  Obama aides have been pushing to include James B. Comey, the former no. 2 man in President Bush’s Justice Department, on the list.

Comey is younger, 48, father of five children, and not cut from the same judicial mold as the rest of the court.  Comey served as Deputy Attnorey General from 2003 to 2005, after which he was made Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Lockheed Martin Corp. Unlike the court’s remaining eight members, he was never a judge in a federal appeals court.

Comey’s name first emerged when he threatened to resign if the administration did not halt plans to implement a domestic eavesdropping program.

So far the list of names, as reported by both the AP and Politico include Solicitor General Elena Kagan, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, California Supreme Court Justice Carlos Moreno, and Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm.  The reports also indicate that there are two U.S. Appeals Court judges under consideration:  Sonia Sotomayor and Diane Pamela Wood.