For weeks, Senate Republicans have insisted that they will not consider any Supreme Court nominee until after the presidential election. Today, President Obama nominated Merrick Garland for the court’s open seat. Now the question is less about how the nomination process will go, and more about whether it will even get started.

+ Garland “once gave up a lucrative career at a law firm to become a federal prosecutor — and later led the massive prosecution of the men who carried out the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.” From WaPo: Meet Merrick Garland.

+ Slate: Merrick Garland is Obama’s rope-a-dope nominee.

+ President Obama announced some other critical picks on Wednesday. Here’s his March Madness bracket.