Bush To Reveal Court Pick At 9pm EST

Bush to reveal Court pick at 9pm EST

http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Bush_t...t_9p_0719.html

FIRST WIRE STORY: Associated Press July 19, 2005 1:07 p.m.

WASHINGTON -- President Bush will announce his nominee to the Supreme Court at 9 p.m. EDT, a senior administration official said.

Amid speculation that the announcement could come shortly, Mr. Bush said Tuesday he is considering candidates from different backgrounds for the Supreme Court and is "comfortable" with the progress of the nomination process. He refused to tip his hand on whom he will name or when he will do it.

Mr. Bush, at a news conference with Australian Prime Minister John Howard, would not even say if he had finished interviewing candidates. "I guess the best way to say it is, I'll let you know when I'm ready to tell you who it is," the president said.

No one claimed to have been told the name by Mr. Bush, but Republican strategists and others focused on Judge Edith Clement of the U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans. The 57-year-old jurist who was confirmed on a 99-0 vote by the Senate when she was elevated to the appeals court in 2001.

Earlier in the day, White House officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to talk publicly about the process, said Mr. Bush's timetable appears to have been accelerated and that a choice could come as early as Tuesday.