By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
US President George W. Bush is nominating Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court, The Associated Press has learned, choosing a long-time federal judge embraced by judicial conservatives to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.
Bush plans to announce the nomination at 8 a.m. (1300 GMT), the officials said.
The choice likely will mend a rift in the Republican Party caused by Bush's failed nomination of Harriet Miers.
Miers bowed out last Thursday after three weeks of bruising criticism from members of Bush's own party who argued that the Texas lawyer and loyal Bush confidant had thin credentials on constitutional law and no proven record as a judicial conservative.