President Trump on Friday said he has narrowed his list of potential Supreme Court nominees to about five, including two women, and plans to announce his pick\u2026<\/b>
\nPresident Trump on Friday said he has narrowed his list of potential Supreme Court nominees to about five, including two women, and plans to announce his pick on July 9.
\u201cI\u2019ve got it narrowed to about five,\u201d he told reporters on Air Force One en route to his New Jersey golf club, where he said he plans to interview one or two candidates this weekend.
Trump said he would interview six to seven candidates in total, saying, „I like them all.“
\u201cWe have great people,\u201d Trump said of his short list. \u201cHighly talented, brilliant, mostly conservative judges.\u201d
Trump\u2019s comments are the latest sign he is moving rapidly to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy, who announced his retirement this week. Kennedy’s retirement does not become official until July 31.
A July 9 announcement would come just before Trump leaves for a six-day trip to Europe and could set up a potential confirmation vote as early as the fall.
The vacancy has given Trump an opportunity to solidify conservative control of the nation\u2019s highest court.
Kennedy, 81, served as a swing vote on key immigration, abortion and gay rights cases. The president has said he wants to fill his seat with someone in the mold of his first Supreme Court pick, Neil Gorsuch, a staunch conservative jurist.
The president said he would not ask potential nominees about their position on Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that gave women the right to an abortion.
\u201cI\u2019m not going to ask them that question,\u201d he said.
Trump did not offer up the five names on his short list, which he has said will be pulled from a list of 25 judges he first released during the 2016 campaign. But he did recognize Sen. Mike Lee \u2019s (R-Utah) public acknowledgment he would not turn down the post.
\u201cHe said he\u2019d like the job, usually they don\u2019t say that,\u201d Trump said.
Lee is on Trump\u2019s initial list of possible Supreme Court picks.
Updated at 6:16 p.m.<\/p>\n

\n

Similarity rank: 32<\/div>\n

Sentiment rank: 0.6<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

TW posts: 16<\/div>\n

TW reposts: 1<\/div>\n

TW likes: 5<\/div>\n

TW sentiment: 10<\/div>\n<\/div>\n