WASHINGTON (AP) —President Barack Obama says federal appellate judge Merrick Garland would bring a spirit of modesty, integrity and even-handedness to the Supreme Court.

Obama is announcing that he’s nominating Garland to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia. He says Garland is widely recognized for his excellence. He’s pointing to Garland’s experience as a law clerk, a prosecutor and as chief judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

“This is not a responsibility I take lightly—it’s a decision that requires me to set aside short-term expediency or narrow politics” —@POTUS

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 16, 2016

Obama says he went through a rigorous and comprehensive process to pick his nominee. He says he sought to set aside short-term expediency and “narrow politics.”

The president says he reached out to every member of the Senate Judiciary Committee to seek advice about the nomination.

 

Garland is the chief justice for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, a court whose influence over federal policy and national security matters has made it a proving ground for potential Supreme Court justices.

AGE — 63

CURRENT POSITION — Chief judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

PROFESSIONAL: Before becoming a judge in 1997, Garland served in the Justice Department as Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General and Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Criminal Division. He was a federal prosecutor in the District of Columbia from 1989 to 1992 and a partner in the law firm of Arnold & Porter from 1985 to 1989 and from 1992 to 1993.

EDUCATION — Harvard College and Harvard Law School.

OF NOTE — Garland supervised Justice Department investigations into the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and Unabomber Ted Kaczynski.