This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Barack Obama will announce his supreme court nominee on Wednesday morning, setting the stage for a showdown with the Republican-controlled Senate.

Senate chair reaffirms pledge to block an Obama nominee to the supreme court Read more

A vacancy opened on the bench of the nation’s highest court when conservative justice Antonin Scalia died on 13 February.

“As president, it is both my constitutional duty to nominate a justice and one of the most important decisions that I – or any president – will make,” Obama said in a statement on Wednesday.

Congressional Republicans, including Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, have said they will block Obama’s nominee, so that the next president can choose the court’s ninth justice. The Senate must confirm the president’s nomination.

“I’m doing my job. I hope that our senators will do their jobs, and move quickly to consider my nominee,” Obama said. “That is what the constitution dictates, and that’s what the American people expect and deserve from their leaders.”

Scalia’s death left the court with a 4-4 divide between conservative and liberal-leaning justices. If Obama’s pick is confirmed, this will likely be the most liberal court in decades.

The top contenders for Wednesday’s nomination, according to reports, are Paul Watford, of the ninth US circuit court of appeals, and Merrick Garland and Sri Srinivasan, both of the US court of appeals for the District of Columbia.

The president was set to announce his nomination at 11am ET, from the White House Rose Garden.

Obama said to select the nominee, he measured each candidate to three principles that “reflect the role the supreme court plays in our democracy”.

He said a justice should have: “an independent mind, unimpeachable credentials, and an unquestionable mastery of law.” He said they should also recognize the limits of the judiciary branch and have an understanding that justice is about life experiences and not just theory.

“It’s the kind of life experience earned outside the classroom and the courtroom; experience that suggests he or she views the law not only as an intellectual exercise, but also grasps the way it affects the daily reality of people’s lives in a big, complicated democracy, and in rapidly-changing times,” Obama said.

Since Obama was elected president in 2008, he has successfully nominated two supreme court justices: Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan – the third and fourth female justices to serve on the court.

Obama’s statement included a link to @SCOTUSnom Twitter account, where the White House said it would be posting updates on the nomination process.

Obama said: “I’m confident you’ll share my conviction that this American is not only eminently qualified to be a supreme court justice, but deserves a fair hearing, and an up-or-down vote.”