President-elect Donald Trump indicated he will announce his nominee to succeed the late Justice Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court in short order.
“You’re still solid on Supreme Court justices, originalists?” Fox News host Sean Hannity asked.
“Yes. Yes. We’re going to appoint very soon,” Trump said. “We’re going to have to come up with a name. I’m looking. I’m down to probably three or four [names.]”
“Are they from your list?” Hannity asked.
“From the list,” Trump responded. “They are terrific people, highly respected, brilliant people. And we’ll be announcing that pretty soon, too.” (RELATED: Schumer Warns Trump: Pick A Mainstream Supreme Court Nominee)
During the campaign, Trump released a list of 21 potential Supreme Court nominees, promising his final selection would be drawn from the list. Where recent Supreme Court nominees have been drawn from powerful appeals courts in Washington, D.C. or on the coasts (of the last four appointments to the high court, three came from appeals courts which sit in New York, Philadelphia, and Washington. The fourth, Justice Elena Kagan, served in the Obama administration.) many of Trump’s potential nominees are drawn from courts in the middle of the country. Many are also graduates of law schools outside the Ivy League. All eight justices currently serving were students at either Harvard or Yale Law Schools.
Though the president-elect has revealed little about his thinking as regards the nomination process, speculation abounds that the two favorites to win the appointment are Judge Diane Sykes of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and Judge William Pryor of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Both were nominated to the federal bench by President George W. Bush and are considered solid conservatives.
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