Obama to discuss Supreme Court vacancy with members

President Barack Obama is scheduled to meet next week with key Senate leaders at the White House to discuss filling the seat of retiring Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens.

Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and ranking member Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.); Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.); and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) will attend, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said.

{mosads}The White House has said that Obama is still weeks away from making a decision on whom he will nominate to fill the seat. Republican leaders over the weekend suggested that the likelihood of a filibuster is small.

The meeting is a courtesy similar to one Obama extended to Senate leaders after Justice David Souter retired last year.

The president selected Justice Sonia Sotomayor to fill the seat, and she was confirmed before last fall’s term.

Obama and White House aides have said they expect the Senate to vote on confirmation of whomever Obama selects this time over the summer, so the nominee can be seated before the start of the fall term in October.