Posted Apr 21, 2010 6:29 AM CDT
By Debra Cassens Weiss

President Obama is beginning informal talks with potential Supreme Court nominees.

Obama is speaking with about 10 nominees, an unnamed White House official told Reuters and the Associated Press.

AP says the list includes Solicitor General Elena Kagan; federal appeals judges Diane Wood, Merrick Garland and Sidney Thomas; former Georgia Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears; Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm; Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano; and Harvard Law School dean Martha Minow.

Meanwhile, Obama is meeting Wednesday with leaders of the Senate and the Senate Judiciary Committee from both political parties. “The White House says the point is for Obama to get advice from the senators on how to proceed and even ideas of people to consider, but his goal is also to show bipartisanship,” AP says.