The White House is reportedly vetting Jane Kelly, judge on the Eight Circuit Court of Appeals, for a Supreme Court nomination.

This is a particularly interesting because Kelly, a native Iowan, is personally close with Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA). Grassley is 82 and facing reelection in a purple state--Obama appears to be putting as much pressure on him as possible to at least grant his nominee a hearing, especially after floating Republican Brian Sandoval as a potential nominee earlier. Grassley has wavered somewhat on whether he would be willing to grant a nominee a hearing: he originally joined McConnell in stating that his committee would not grant any Obama nominees a hearing, but has recently taken a more lenient stance, saying:

"I would like to think that, especially with Supreme Court nominations, we could get above the fray a little bit and determine what’s best for the public.”


It appears to me that Obama appointed Republican Sandoval and now Iowan Kelly largely to put pressure on Grassley. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Prediction market PredictIt currently has the odds for Kelly being Obama's first nominee at 39% (likely to rise further in the next few hours, as it was only 3% this morning). It has the odds of any Obama nominee getting a hearing at 43%, and a confirmation at 29%.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/03/us/politics/white-house-vetting-jane-kelly-judge-supreme-court.html

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2016/02/20/iowa-judge-would-bring-unique-background-high-court/80602170/

http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2013/04/circuit-judge-gets-quick-confirmation-.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/20/us/politics/iowa-senator-charles-grassley-supreme-court.html

https://www.predictit.org/Browse/Group/39/Supreme-Court