A Supreme Court nominee is "close" to being named by President Obama — but the commander-in-chief is still weighing the political implications of his choice to Republicans,
The New York Times reports.
The nominee could be named as early as Tuesday.
The Times says the three contenders, all federal circuit judges, are Sri Srinivasan, Merrick Garland and Paul Watford.
Srinivasan, would be the high court's first Indian-American; Garland is moderate; and Watford is an African-American believed to be the most liberal of the three.
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told the newspaper the GOP will likely oppose anybody the president selects.
"It's clear what Republicans are planning to do: They are planning to tear down the president's nominee without regard to who the person is," Earnest said.
Republican lawmakers say they will refuse to consider any nominee put forward by Obama to fill the seat of late Justice Antonin Scalia, because the next president should make that decision.
Republicans say they are stalling in the hopes the next president will be a Republican who will pick a conservative judge in the Scalia vein.
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