President nears decision on Supreme Court nominee
— President Trump weighed his final decision on a replacement for retiring Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy after a weekend of deliberation at his New Jersey golf club.
A person with knowledge of the president’s thinking said Sunday that Trump has not yet communicated a final choice. The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Trump spent the weekend discussing his options with allies amid frenzied last-minute lobbying. Trump is set to announce his pick at 6 p.m. PDT Monday from the White House.
Savoring the suspense, Trump has sought to keep people guessing in the final hours, wanting to replicate his announcement of Justice Neil Gorsuch. The White House hoped to keep the details under wraps until he rolls out his pick from the East Room. The president was gleeful when Gorsuch’s name didn’t leak out early.
Top contenders for the role are federal appeals judges Brett Kavanaugh, Raymond Kethledge, Amy Coney Barrett and Thomas Hardiman. The White House has been preparing information materials on all four, who were part of a longer list of 25 names vetted by conservative groups.
Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Roy Blunt of Missouri said Sunday that they believe any of the four could get confirmed by the GOP-majority Senate.
“I think we can confirm any of the four names being mentioned,” Blunt said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “They’re good judges. I think they’d be fine justices of the Supreme Court. I do think the president has to think about who is the easiest to get confirmed here. And I expect we will do that on sort of a normal timetable, a couple of months.”
The president and White House officials involved in the process have fielded calls and messages and have been on the receiving end of public pleas and op-eds for or against specific candidates since Kennedy announced on June 27 that he would retire this summer.
Some conservatives have expressed concerns about Kavanaugh — a longtime judge and former clerk for Kennedy — questioning his commitment to social issues like abortion and noting his time serving under President George W. Bush as evidence he is a more establishment choice. But his supporters cite his experience and wide range of legal opinions. Barrett has excited social conservatives since she was questioned about her Roman Catholic faith in her nomination hearings last year, but her brief time on the bench has raised questions.