PITTSBURGH — President Barack Obama has nominated a federal prosecutor from Pittsburgh to fill a seat on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which handles appeals from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The nomination of Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebecca Ross Haywood was made Tuesday, a day before the president nominated District of Columbia Circuit Court Judge Merrick Garland to the U.S. Supreme Court. Garland’s nomination is expected to set off a high-profile partisan battle between the president and Senate Republicans, but Haywood’s nomination could also prompt a bitter — if far less-publicized — confirmation process.

Haywood, 47, is currently chief of the appellate division in Pittsburgh, which prosecutes cases in 25 western Pennsylvania counties.

Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey has said he doesn’t think Haywood is qualified, and some Republicans have urged opposing any of the president’s judicial nominations until his term expires in January.

Among other things, Toomey said Haywood “struggled to answer legal questions” about some of Obama’s executive orders that blocked illegal immigrants from being deported.

“Instead of blowing up a bipartisan working arrangement, the president should take a step back, put an end to this political theater, withdraw a nomination that is not suitable for such an important lifetime position,” Toomey said in a statement.