Will choose justice July 9, Trump says

President Donald Trump said Friday that he has narrowed down his search for a seat on the Supreme Court to about five finalists, including two women, and will announce his pick July 9.

Trump spoke about his plans for nominating a replacement for retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy aboard Air Force One en route to Bedminster, N.J.

A person familiar with the process said White House officials are focused primarily on five federal appeals court judges — Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett, Thomas Hardiman, Raymond Kethledge and Amul Thapar — all Republican appointees with conservative track records.

It isn’t clear what other woman might be on Trump’s short list. Trump said Friday that he may consider as many as seven candidates.

The president, who had compiled a list of 25 candidates since his campaign, said he may interview one or two candidates this weekend at his resort in Bedminster. He said he’s not going to ask them whether they’d vote to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade abortion-rights ruling, a decadeslong aspiration of the Republican Party.

Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah isn’t among the leading candidates, the person said.

Trump’s July 9 time frame could prove optimistic. The FBI is still conducting background checks, the person said.

Hardiman and Thapar were among the group interviewed by Trump before he selected Neil Gorsuch for a vacancy last year. Kethledge was also under consideration for that opening, though he didn’t get an interview with Trump.

Barrett and Thapar were both appointed by Trump to their current federal appeals court posts. Kavanaugh and Kethledge are both former law clerks to Kennedy at the Supreme Court.