UNITED STATES—On Wednesday, September 9, President Trump announced an additional 20 individuals he would select from if a Supreme Court vacancy were to arise during his presidency. It is a running list with over a dozen others on it and was initially compiled in 2016.
His updated list includes Senator Ted Cruz, Senator Tom Cotton and Senator Josh Hawley.
Senator Cruz and Senator Cotton did not dispute their listing. Senator 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.”
Supreme Court Justices have a lifetime appointment and deem the verdict of controversial issues.
Trump appointed Justice Neil Gorsuch in 2017 and Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2018. He explained that the jurists he’d next appoint, if able to, would be in the mold of Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel Alito.
Though there is no vacancy, many jurists are older in age. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is 87, Justice Stephen Breyer is 82, Justice Clarence Thomas is 72 and Justice Samuel Alito is 70.
The full list of Trump’s additional picks is as follows:
- Bridget Bade of Arizona, judge on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
- Daniel Cameron of Kentucky, that state’s attorney general
- Paul Clement of Virginia, former U.S. solicitor general
- Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas
- Senator Ted Cruz of Texas
- Stuart Kyle Duncan of Louisiana, judge on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
- Steven Engel of the District of Columbia, assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Counsel at the Department of Justice
- Noel Francisco, former U.S. solicitor general
- Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri
- James Ho of Texas, judge on the 5th Circuit
- Gregory Katsas of Virginia, judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
- Barbara Lagoa, a judge from Florida on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
- Christopher Landau of Maryland, U.S. ambassador to Mexico
- Carlos Muñiz of Florida, justice on the Florida Supreme Court
- Martha Pacold of Illinois, judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
- Peter Phipps of Pennsylvania, judge on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
- Sarah Pitlyk of Missouri, judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri
- Allison Jones Rushing of North Carolina, judge on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
- Kate Todd of Virginia, deputy assistant to the president and deputy counsel to the president
- Lawrence VanDyke of Nevada, judge on the 9th Circuit
