AP source: Obama talks to judge about high court

By BEN FELLER Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama is stepping up his search for a Supreme Court nominee.

A source tells The Associated Press that the president met Thursday in the Oval Office with federal appeals court judge Sidney Thomas of Montana. It is his first known formal interview with a candidate for the upcoming vacancy on the high court.

A person familiar with the conversations, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations, tells the AP that Vice President Joe Biden interviewed Thomas in a separate meeting at the White House.

Thomas, who is 56, serves on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the largest of the nation's appellate courts.

The president has been considering about 10 people for the Supreme Court.