--- title: White House May Be Vetting Appeals Judge for Supreme Court description: The White House is apparently vetting Judge Jane L. Kelly as a potential nominee for the Supreme Court. canonical: https://time.com/4245550/jane-kelly-supreme-court-obama-scalia/ author: Daniel White article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-02T22:08:55.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:56:07.725Z article:section: Politics og:title: White House May Be Vetting Appeals Judge for Supreme Court og:description: The Republican judiciary chair praised the potential nominee in the past. og:url: https://time.com/4245550/jane-kelly-supreme-court-obama-scalia/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6ea796b0157c6ae4/6988790ce20a873846a8f0ee/supreme-court-puerto-rico-sovereignty.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Turmoil Only Sure Thing If Supreme Court Rejects Gay Marriage og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: White House May Be Vetting Appeals Judge for Supreme Court twitter:description: The Republican judiciary chair praised the potential nominee in the past. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6ea796b0157c6ae4/6988790ce20a873846a8f0ee/supreme-court-puerto-rico-sovereignty.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # White House May Be Vetting Appeals Judge for Supreme Court Vacancy ## Video: TIME Raw: Watch Obama Meet With Senators On SCOTUS [Watch (HLS stream): TIME Raw: Watch Obama Meet With Senators On SCOTUS](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/BK41ZLOz.m3u8) (0:32)  _Published 2016-03-01_ by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Mar 2, 2016 10:08 PM UTC  The U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. The U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C.Drew Angerer—Bloomberg/Getty Images by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Mar 2, 2016 10:08 PM UTC The White House [may be vetting](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/03/us/politics/white-house-vetting-jane-kelly-judge-supreme-court.html?smid=tw-share&%5Fr=1) Judge Jane L. Kelly as a potential nominee for the Supreme Court. Kelly, a federal appellate judge, is the subject of a background check by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, according to a report by the New York _Times_, citing an unnamed person familiar with the situation. The White House has remained tight lipped during the search to fill the vacancy since the [death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February](http://time.com/4236982/supreme-court-next-trial/). The Senate swiftly confirmed Kelly unanimously three years ago for her current post on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. She is highly regarded in legal circles in Iowa, according to the _Times_ report, and which could push Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Sen. Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, who has previously praised Kelly, into an awkward position if he refuses to hold a hearing on her. Grassley has thus far said the committee would not [entertain a Supreme Court nomination from the White House](http://time.com/4224322/antonin-scalia-replacement-supreme-court-mitch-mcconnell-senate/) until Obama is out of office. If brought on to the Supreme Court, Kelly would be the only public defender serving on the nation’s highest court. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4245550/jane-kelly-supreme-court-obama-scalia/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4245550/jane-kelly-supreme-court-obama-scalia/"},"headline":"White House May Be Vetting Appeals Judge for Supreme Court Vacancy","datePublished":"2016-03-02T22:08:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:56:07.725Z","description":"The Republican chair of the judiciary committee has praised the potential nominee in the past","url":"https://time.com/4245550/jane-kelly-supreme-court-obama-scalia/","keywords":["Supreme Court","Barack Obama","White House","Antonin Scalia topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6ea796b0157c6ae4/6988790ce20a873846a8f0ee/supreme-court-puerto-rico-sovereignty.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Daniel White","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/daniel-white/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6ea796b0157c6ae4/6988790ce20a873846a8f0ee/supreme-court-puerto-rico-sovereignty.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Turmoil Only Sure Thing If Supreme Court Rejects Gay Marriage","caption":"The U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C.","creditText":"Drew Angerer—Bloomberg/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/supreme-court/","name":"Supreme Court"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4245550/jane-kelly-supreme-court-obama-scalia/","name":"White House May Be Vetting Appeals Judge for Supreme Court Vacancy"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME Raw: Watch Obama Meet With Senators On SCOTUS","description":"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/BK41ZLOz/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-03-01T21:17:31.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/BK41ZLOz.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4245550/jane-kelly-supreme-court-obama-scalia/","duration":"PT32S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4245550/jane-kelly-supreme-court-obama-scalia/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```