President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland will be the commencement speaker at Niles West High School’s May 29 graduation, according to the school's website.
Garland graduated from the suburban high school in 1970. He was born in Chicago and raised in suburban Lincolnwood.
In March, Garland was nominated to the Supreme Court by Obama in a ceremony at the White House’s Rose Garden.
“After the announcement at the White House, we were thinking about what a good forum would be to connect with Judge Garland and bring him back home to Niles West,” the school’s principal Jason Ness said.
Garland currently serves as the Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
A group of Republican lawmakers, led by Sen. Mitch McConnell, are pushing to block President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nomination until a new president is elected next year.
Obama traveled to Chicago in April to make his case for Garland and push for confirmation hearings.
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"I simply ask Republicans in the Senate to give him a fair hearing, and then an up-or-down vote," Obama said during his nomination announcement. "If you don't, then it wil not only be an abdication of the Senate's constitutional duty, it will indicate a process for nominating and confirming judges that is beyond repair."
Garland met with Sen. Mark Kirk in March and Sen. Dick Durbin in April.
He previously served as a federal prosecutor for the U.S. Attorney's Office in D.C. as part of President George H.W. Bush's administration. In that role, he prosecuted cases involving public corruption, drug trafficking and fraud.
Garland was later selected as the Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division at the Department of Justice, and then as Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General.
He also oversaw the high-profile Oklahoma City bombing case in 1995.
