Developing: Obama Announces Sotomayor As Supreme Court Nominee

May 26, 2009 10:22 a.m. EST

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - President Barack Obama will appoint U.S. Appeals Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter.

Obama has been consulting Democratic and Republican lawmakers about his first high court appointment. Sotomayor will need Senate confirmation before taking the seat of Souter, who is retiring this summer, when the court's new term begins on Oct. 5, the first Monday of that month.

Earlier this month, the President met privately with Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Judiciary Committee chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), the top Republican in the committee.

After the meeting, Senate leaders had addressed questions about Obama's use of the word "empathy" to describe his ideal candidate, and whether a nominee could be confirmed by the Judiciary panel in time.

Congress is schedule to take two recesses before October: a week-long Memorial Day break, and its summer district work period from Aug. 3 to Sept. 4.

"Empathy implied that you were on somebody's side before you heard the case," McConnell had said. "We did have a discussion about the importance of following the law and not acting like a legislator on the bench... if I were making this nomination, empathy would not be a word that I would have chosen."

"Having said that, the President gets to make the nomination and we'll make our judgment based on the nominee's record," he added.

Session likewise pursued a bipartisan path, saying, "President Obama did vote against Alito and Roberts but he didn't obstruct and say mean things about them. He explained what his difficulties were with them. That's a process that we should go through... By having the early announcement [of Souter's retirement], it does allow the process to go forward in a way that the American people can be proud of."

During the campaign, Republicans had slammed Obama for his support for "activist judges" and opposition, when he was senator, to the confirmations of Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, two of the four justices who comprise the conservative wing of the court.

Leahy, also speaking to reports after the meeting, made clear that while senators will "have a real debate" and bipartisan process, Republicans understand that "a nominee by President Obama is not a nominee by a President Bush or a President McCain."