Trump wants successor to RBG ‘without delay’

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Saturday said he intended to move “without delay” to name a candidate for the vacancy left on the Supreme Court by the demise of justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

“We were put in this position of power and importance to make decisions for the people who so proudly elected us, the most important of which has long been considered to be the selection of United States Supreme Court justices,” Trump tweeted, adding, “We have this obligation, without delay!”

Amul Thapar on Trump’s shortlist for successor

Trump has not indicated who he will name and when, but Indian-American Amul Thapar is among the top few he is considering, according to multiple media reports. Thapar’s name was on the US president’s shortlist to replace justice Stephen Kennedy in 2018, but he eventually picked Brett Kavanaugh. Thapar, 51, is a judge on the 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals.

Trump thanked former Senate leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, for removing a rule that required 60 votes to confirm a nominee. Republicans have a 53-47 majority in the Senate. All presidential nominations to certain federal positions must be confirmed or rejected by the Senate.

Republican majority leader Mitch McConnell has already indicated that he is ready to start the process, saying in a statement that Trump’s nominee will get a vote.

In 2016, he had blocked president Barack Obama’s nominee for the Supreme Court, saying it must be left to the next president, even though elections were due after nine months.