The White House is declining to name the four candidates who interviewed Monday with President Donald Trump for the Supreme Court vacancy.
The Latest on President Donald Trump and the Supreme Court (all times local):
4:20 p.m.
The White House is declining to name the four candidates who interviewed Monday with President Donald Trump for the Supreme Court vacancy.
Spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders says Trump is seeking a candidate who has “right intellect” and the “right temperament” and will uphold the U. S. Constitution.
Sanders wouldn’t provide the names of the candidates who met with Trump or the two to three candidates expected to meet with the president later this week. She is reiterating that Trump does not intend to ask any of the candidates for their views on Roe v. Wade, the 1973 case that affirmed women’s right to abortion.
Trump says he will announce his choice to succeed retiring Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy on July 9.
__
2:20 p.m.
President Donald Trump says he met with four potential Supreme Court Justice candidates on Monday morning as he works to fill the spot vacated by retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy.
Trump he says he plans to meet with two to three more as he works toward a decision “over the next few days.”
Trump told reporters that the candidates he met with are “outstanding people and they are really incredible people in so many different ways, academically and in every other way.” He spoke during an appearance with the prime minister of the Netherlands.
He has said he was homing in on up to seven candidates, including two women.
Trump plans to announce his pick on July 9 and is eyeing a list of 25 previously announced people.
__
11:03 a.m.
The White House is getting its team in place for the confirmation process for President Donald Trump’s next Supreme Court pick.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Monday that White House Counsel Don McGahn will lead the overall process. He played the same role in the successful confirmation of Justice Neil Gorsuch last year.
Spokesman Raj Shah will take leave from his role in the press office to work full time on “communications, strategy and messaging coordination with Capitol Hill allies.” And Justin Clark, the director of the Office of Public Liaison, will oversee White House coordination with outside groups.
Trump has said he will announce his nominee to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy July 9.
____
10:35 a.m.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is trying to rally public opposition to any Supreme Court nominee by President Donald Trump who’d oppose abortion rights and expanded health care coverage.
The New York Democrat says this summer’s retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy creates the most important high court vacancy “in our lifetimes.”
Schumer says while Democrats are outnumbered in the narrowly divided Senate, most senators back abortion rights and the added coverage created by former President Barack Obama’s health care law. He says both would be threatened by a conservative Trump nominee.
Schumer writes in an opinion column in Monday’s New York Times that people should pressure senators to oppose nominees who’d overturn abortion rights and Obama’s statute.
Kennedy has been a swing vote on several issues on the nine-member court.
____
12:32 a.m.
Republican Sen. Susan Collins says she would oppose any nominee she believed would overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion.
She would be a key vote on President Donald Trump’s pick for the Supreme Court in the closely divided Senate.
The White House is focusing on five to seven potential candidates to fill the vacancy of retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy, a swing vote on the court. The Maine senator said Sunday that she would only back a judge who would show respect for settled law such as the 45-year-old Roe decision, which has long been anathema to conservatives.
Republican Sen. Susan Collins, a key vote on President Donald Trump’s pick for the Supreme Court, said Sunday she would oppose any nominee she believed would overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion.
