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President Barack Obama is considering more than six contenders for the Supreme Court, a list dominated by women and Hispanics, including judges and leaders from own his administration who have never donned a judicial robe.

The new Democratic president is making his first appointment to the court but whomever he chooses, the ideological balance of the highest U.S. judicial body is unlikely to change.

Obama's nominee would replace Justice David Souter, who is part of the court's liberal wing. The court took on a conservative bent as a result of former President George W. Bush's appointments.

Among those under consideration are Solicitor General Elena Kagan, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and U.S. Appeals Court judges Sonia Sotomayor and Diane Pamela Wood. California Supreme Court Justice Carlos Moreno is also under review by Obama.

Sources familiar with Obama's deliberations confirmed the names to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because no candidates have been revealed by the White House. The confirmation amounts to the first time any name has been directly tied to Obama.

One official cautioned that Obama is considering other people who have not been publicly mentioned. And more names may be added to the list.

The disclosure came as the president met privately at the White House on Wednesday with four leading senators likely to play a key role in confirmation proceedings. Separately, top aides invited the leaders of several liberal-leaning outside groups to a meeting.

Most of the people confirmed as under consideration have been mentioned frequently as potential candidates. Moreno _ the sole man on the known group of top candidates _ is the newest name to emerge.

The president is widely expected to choose a woman for a Supreme Court that has nine members but only one female justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg. He is also under pressure from some Latino officials to name the nation's first Hispanic justice. Moreno and Sotomayor are Hispanic.

Obama is likely before month's end to name a nominee to replace Souter, who is retiring when the court term ends this summer.

"I don't envy him the decision, but I think he's going to make it soon," Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, a Democrat, said after the private White House session.

Obama met with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat; Sen. Jeff Sessions, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee; Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican; and Leahy. Vice President Joe Biden, a former Judiciary Committee chairman and veteran of confirmation hearings, also attended.

The senators did not give any indication of how long the process might take, but noted that it typically takes 60 days for confirmation once a nominee has been announced.

Obama wants his nominee confirmed before the Senate recess in August, which means he would need to name one soon.

"I think he's still in the initial evaluation process," Sessions told reporters later in the day. "That's pretty clear, I think. He's not settled on one name."

The senators who met with Obama said he did not discuss specific names with them.

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Associated Press writers David Espo, Philip Elliott, Paul Elias, Ben Evans, Chuck Babington and Lolita Baldor contributed to this report.