Possible choice of Nevada governor a test for Senate GOP

The main Republican candidates for the presidency – Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio – contend that tradition holds that an outgoing president abstains from naming Supreme Court nominees in an election year, like this one.

One individual who’s signaled interest in a Sandoval nomination is the Nevada governor himself.

Gov. Sandoval said over the weekend he was honored his name was mentioned, but had heard nothing to think the Democratic president is considering him.

On Sunday night, Sandoval sat at the president’s head table at a White House dinner for governors.

The two people declined to be named because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly about the possible replacement for Scalia.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s office signaled that a GOP-friendly nomination like Sandoval’s wouldn’t make a difference to Senate Republicans who have already decided against holding confirmation hearings. He abandoned his state’s legal defense of a same-sex marriage ban before the Supreme Court declared such bans unconstitutional a year ago.

Liberal groups made clear within hours on Wednesday that they would have serious problems with the selection.

Sandoval, a centrist governor, could be seen as an overture to Senate Republicans who have vowed to block the president’s pick for Scalia’s spot on the court.

“The result of the Senate refusing to consider any nominee whatsoever from President Obama for the remainder of his term is exceeding its constitutional power, because they are effectively asserting the authority to initiate or not initiate the nomination process, and this goes far beyond the authority they are given”, said Edward Fallone, a law professor at Marquette University in Wisconsin.

A source familiar with the process confirmed to CBS News on Wednesday that Sandoval, a Republican, met with Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) in Washington, DC this week. They said the Constitution gives them the right to vet nominees but does not require them to do so. “My heart is in my job”, Sandoval said at the time. Democratic Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto urged her Republican competitors to call for hearings if Sandoval is the pick.

Senate Republicans are refusing to do their jobs and failing to fulfill their constitutional duties.

McConnell spokesman Don Stewart said Wednesday that the leader’s office is working with the White House to schedule a meeting with the president, but he said that McConnell’s position will not change.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the president is also hoping to meet with Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles Grassley of Iowa.

Though an unlikely candidate, many Democrats suggest that Gov. Sandoval, who is seen in the eyes as many as a moderate conservative, is one of the few candidates that Republicans would be willing to confirm under President Obama’s tenure.