President Trump unveiled a list of individuals he will potentially nominate for the Supreme Court, a move likely to rally evangelical voters and core conservatives in his base before the election.
During a Wednesday press conference at the White House, Trump revealed an additional 20 potential nominees to a list he previously released during the 2016 presidential campaign. Among those added include 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Bridget S. Bade, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, and Republican Sens. Tom Cotton, Ted Cruz, and Josh Hawley, whom Trump described as being in the mold of conservative Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito and former Justice Antonin Scalia.
“Our cherished rights are at risk, including the right to life and our great Second Amendment. Over the next four years, America’s president will choose hundreds of federal judges and, in all likelihood, one, two, three, and even four Supreme Court justices,” Trump said. “The outcome of these decisions will determine whether we hold fast to our nation’s founding principles or whether they are lost forever.”
Following the announcement, the conservative senators had varying reactions, but all thanked the president for considering them as options for the high court.
“I am grateful for the president’s confidence in me and for his leadership in nominating principled constitutionalists to the federal bench over the last four years. As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I’ve been proud to help confirm to the bench over 200 of President Trump’s judicial nominees, including two to the Supreme Court. It’s humbling and an immense honor to be considered for the Supreme Court,” Cruz said in a statement.
“The High Court plays a unique role in defending our Constitution, and there is no greater responsibility in public service than to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. In the Senate, I have been blessed to lead the fight to preserve our constitutional liberties — every day, to defend the rights of 29 million Texans — and I look forward to continuing to do so for many years to come,” the statement continues.
Minutes after Trump’s announcement, Cotton signaled he would go after a Supreme Court abortion precedent established in Roe v. Wade, which established a constitutional right to abortion.
“It’s time for Roe v. Wade to go,” Cotton tweeted.
It’s time for Roe v. Wade to go.
— Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) September 9, 2020
However, Hawley indicated he had “no interest” in becoming a member of the Supreme Court, but noted he “looks forward” to confirming Trump’s nominee for the high court.
“I appreciate the President’s confidence in listing me as a potential Supreme Court nominee. But as I told the President, Missourians elected me to fight for them in the Senate, and I have no interest in the high court. I look forward to confirming constitutional conservatives,” Hawley tweeted.
I appreciate the President’s confidence in listing me as a potential Supreme Court nominee. But as I told the President, Missourians elected me to fight for them in the Senate, and I have no interest in the high court. I look forward to confirming constitutional conservatives
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) September 9, 2020
Others on the list are Paul Clement, solicitor general under former President George W. Bush; Stuart Kyle Duncan and James Ho, Trump-appointed judges for the Fifth Circuit Court; Steven Engel, an assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Counsel at the Justice Department; and former U.S. Solicitor General Noel Francisco.
The list also included Gregory Katsas, former Trump White House deputy counsel and now D.C. Circuit Court Judge; Barbara Lagoa, a judge on the 11th Circuit Court; Carlos Muñiz, a Florida Supreme Court justice; Christopher Landau, a former U.S. ambassador to Mexico who once clerked on the U.S. Supreme Court; Kate Todd, deputy counsel to the president; Northern District of Illinois Judge Martha Pacold; Third Circuit Court Judge Peter Phipps; Eastern District of Missouri Judge Sarah Pitlyk; Fourth Circuit Court Judge Alison Jones Rushing; and Ninth Circuit Court Judge Lawrence VanDyke.
During the 2016 campaign, Trump announced a list of potential nominees for the high court in attempts to woo conservative voters who were skeptical of his ideological framework. Trump teased this list of Supreme Court nominees earlier this summer, noting at the time that the announcement would come by Sept. 1.
“If given the opportunity, I will only choose from this list, as in the past, a Conservative Supreme Court Justice … Based on decisions being rendered now, this list is more important than ever before (Second Amendment, Right to Life, Religious Liberty, etc.) – VOTE 2020!” the president tweeted.
In Trump’s first term, the Senate has confirmed two of the president’s Supreme Court nominees. Justice Neil Gorsuch replaced Scalia in 2017 following his death in 2016, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh replaced retired Justice Anthony Kennedy in 2018.
