Newsweek reports that whomever President Obama ends up choosing to fill the vacancy, it will likely be a woman: “Obama has privately told friends and aides, these sources say, that he would like nothing more than to be the first president to elevate three women to the bench.” [Newsweek]

Reuters says the nomination could come as soon as this week, since Obama has said he wants to make the pick before the end of May. The newswire's list of his top picks includes no new surprises: Elena Kagan, 7^th Circuit Judge Diane Wood, D.C. Circuit Judge Merrick Garland and 9^th Circuit Judge Sidney Thomas. [Reuters]

Lawrence Lessig, a friend of Kagan, writes in a blog piece for the Huffington Post, “Kagan has had practical strategic experience. Her most important work over the past two decades has been in contexts where she has had to move people to see things as she did. And through that experience, she has developed a sixth sense for the strategy of an argument. She matches that insight with a toughness that can get what she wants done.” [Huffington Post]

CNN characterizes Kagan as a consensus-builder with political leanings that are sometimes hard to pin down. [CNN]

The conservative National Review disagrees–Ed Whelan finds himself “baffled” by people who believe Kagan “might secretly harbor some conservative legal views” in light of an “utter dearth of evidence.” [National Review]

The Wall Street Journal reported that on Friday President Obama interviewed Solicitor General Elena Kagan for the spot. The White House has said only that Obama is considering 10 people for the spot. The Journal reports, “The president has conducted less formal conversations by phone with candidates as well as full-fledged interviews in person about judicial philosophy and other subjects.” [Wall Street Journal]