Former President Donald Trump has yet to release an updated slate of Supreme Court nominees, but conservatives are hopeful that his second term will see the appointment of even more principled justices.
President Trump's appointments to the Supreme Court and lower courts are frequently cited as his greatest achievements. Accomplished Trump has repeatedly promised to release a new list of nominees before the election, but the names on that list remain to be determined, although many in conservative legal circles believe someone nominated to serve on a federal appeals court would likely be on the list.
“President Trump has said that aside from issues of war and peace, nominating a Supreme Court justice is the most important decision an American president can make,” Brian Hughes, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “As president, he appointed constitutional law judges who will interpret the law as written, and he will do so again when voters send him back to the White House.”
Trump said “We will be releasing a list of candidates over the next three to four weeks,” CBS News political reporter Caitlin Huey Barnes said Monday. said He told The Washington Times in March that he would be releasing a new list, adding that then-opponent President Joe Biden “should do the same.”
“I'm going to put together a list of justices, fine justices, about 20 of them. I think it's important to make it clear who's going to be on the Supreme Court,” Trump told the outlet in March. “Some people say it's because of this list that I won the last election.”
Trump was the first list In May 2016, after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, he selected 11 candidates to indicate the type of justice he would choose to fill his seat, an unprecedented move that boosted his credibility with conservative voters. expansion A list released in September 2016 included 10 more names.
Trump is another list In November 2017, the committee released a new list that included Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, and again in September 2020, shortly before the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah and Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri were on Trump's 2020 list. said The Dispatch reported in July that it was unclear who was on the new list.
“Many of President Trump's lower court appointees have a track record of faithfully upholding the letter of the Constitution and demonstrating courage, and we hope the next president will select similar individuals,” JCN President Carrie Severino told DCNF.
BREAKING: President Trump has announced additions to his list of Supreme Court nominees, including Senators Tom Cotton, Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley. pic.twitter.com/wPlSAWEQkH
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) September 9, 2020
Mike Davis, executive director of the Article III Project, told DCNF that President Trump's “biggest and most important accomplishment of his first term has been reforming the federal judiciary.”
“President Trump will build on his successes in his second term by appointing even bolder and more courageous justices,” Davis said. “One need only look at his appointments to crucial appeals courts to see who his top choices for the Supreme Court are.”
Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Kyle DuncanFifth Circuit Judge James Ho8th Circuit Judge David StrassFifth Circuit Judge Don WillettJudge Barbara Lagoa of the 11th Circuit and Judge Gregory of the D.C. Circuit Katsaswhich was also included in his previous list.
Before selecting Gorsuch, Trump personally Interviewed Three other nominees included Judge Thomas Hardiman of the Third Circuit, Judge William Pryor of the Eleventh Circuit, and then-Judge Amr of the Eastern District of Kentucky. TapalPresident Trump appointed him to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit.
John Malcolm, vice president of the Heritage Foundation's Institute for Constitutional Government, told DCNF there are many people who would make “outstanding judges,” naming Thapar, Ho, Strass, Katsas and Lagoa as some that come to mind.
Malcolm went on to highlight two other things Trump has said in the past: listformer Attorneys General Paul Clement and Noel Francisco, Judge Andrew Oldham of the Fifth Circuit, Judge Neomi Rao of the D.C. Circuit, Judge Stefanos Bivas of the Third Circuit, Judge Elizabeth Branch of the Eleventh Circuit, Judge Raymond Kethledge of the Sixth Circuit, and Judge Patrick Bumathai of the Ninth Circuit.
Clement Since 2000, he has argued more cases before the Supreme Court than any other lawyer, including the recent Roper-Bright case. case As a result, the Supreme Court overturned the Chevron decision in June.
Ho and Branch Between A group of federal judges said in May they would not hire a Columbia law clerk, calling the university a “hotbed of bigotry” over its handling of pro-Palestinian protests. The two judges also said they would not hire a Columbia law clerk last year after students disrupted Duncan's speech at the Stanford Law School Federalist Society.
Trump Included Five recommendations from the list Malcolm Compiled He was one of 11 candidates on his original 2016 list.
“If Trump becomes president again, we're going to have a conservative majority on the Supreme Court for the next 15 to 20 years,” said Antonin Scalia, a constitutional law professor at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. attention “If he wins the election, it's very likely that Republicans will take control of the Senate,” he wrote in National Review in July.
Whelan said President Trump “can assemble a strong list from the dozens of federal appeals court judges he has appointed” and suggested Francisco be added to the list.
“In addition to his outstanding qualifications, Francisco would be an attractive candidate to become the first Asian American judge,” he wrote.
WASHINGTON DC – APRIL 10: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy (right) administers the judicial oath to Justice Neil Gorsuch (left) as his wife, Marie Louise Gorsuch, holds a Bible and President Donald Trump looks on as he sits on the bench during a ceremony in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington DC on April 10, 2017. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Vice President Kamala Harris has not said who she would nominate to the Supreme Court, but she has a strong track record from her time as a senator and attorney general of California that reflects her views on the Constitution. (Related: “Political justice”: Kamala Harris' antics during confirmation hearings hint at the “radical” judge she will nominate)
In the Senate, she asked questions during confirmation hearings, pressing appointees for their personal positions on issues such as climate change and abortion. As California's Attorney General, she consistently took left-leaning positions in the briefs she wrote and signed on issues such as affirmative action, religious freedom, and LGBT issues.
President Joe Biden said In June, he said the president-elect “will likely nominate two new Supreme Court justices,” which he called “one of the scariest parts” of a possible second Trump term.
Biden proposed Supreme Court reform in July, including constitutional amendments to recent decisions on presidential immunity, term limits and code of conduct for judges.
The Harris campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
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