Supreme Court Countdown Begins in Washington
President Obama has cast a wide net in his search for his second Supreme Court pick in less than a year, and he's hoping to stay on the same timetable as with the nomination of Justice Sonya Sotomayor.
On Wednesday's Washington Unplugged, CBS News Chief Legal Correspondent Jan Crawford spoke with Senior White House Correspondent Bill Plante. "My guidance is that this is going to be early to mid May," she said. "They want to do it before May 26th. They want to start those hearings in July."
The White House confirmed Wednesday that it has a list of 10 potential nominees, but the focus has narrowed to just a handful. As Crawford explains, the White House is "doing intense vetting right now."
"They're going to cast a very wide net right now because they have a lot of constituencies they're trying to satisfy," she said. "When it comes down to it, it's just going to be a handful at the very end that [Obama] will talk to and look at seriously."
One new name that's being floated around and could be a strong possible pick is Martha Minnow, the current Dean of Harvard Law School. Crawford notes, "She was also a professor of President Obama's at Harvard Law and was one of the people who encouraged him to go into public service."
Watch more of CBS News' Jan Crawford on who else is on the President's SCOTUS short-list as well as CBS News Washington Bureau Chief Chris Isham's interview with acclaimed journalist and author Ahmed Rashid.
"Washington Unplugged" appears live on CBSNews.com each weekday at 12:30 p.m. ET. Click