Trump pledges to name court nominee on July 9

MORRISTOWN, N.J. – Moving forward quickly on a key decision, President Donald Trump said Friday that he plans to announce his choice to succeed retiring Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy on July 9. He added that two women are among his top candidates for the job.

The president, who spoke aboard Air Force One on the way to his golf club in New Jersey, said he had identified a group of at least five potential candidates for the nation’s high court and may interview as many as seven.

Kennedy, a key swing vote on the court, announced Wednesday that he would retire this summer. Kennedy’s news that he’ll leave the court next month immediately activated a network of White House aides, congressional allies and outside advocates, all set for their second Supreme Court confirmation fight in two years.

Trump told reporters he planned to begin interviewing possible candidates Monday but might meet with some over the weekend in New Jersey.

“It’s a great group of intellectual talent,” Trump said.

Asked whether he planned to question potential court nominees about their views on abortion rights and Roe v. Wade, he responded, “That’s not a question I’ll be asking.”

“I think it’s inappropriate to discuss,” he said.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has committed to confirming a nominee this fall.

Trump has promised to draw the next justice from a list of 25 prospective candidates that was first established during the 2016 presidential campaign and updated last fall. That list includes six women.

Some possible nominees being eyed include Thomas Hardiman, who serves alongside Trump’s sister on the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and Raymond Kethledge, a federal appeals court judge who clerked for Kennedy.

Also of interest are Amul Thapar, who serves on the federal appeals court in Cincinnati, lives in Kentucky and is close to McConnell; Brett Kavanaugh, a former clerk for Kennedy who serves on the federal appeals court in Washington, D.C.; and Amy Coney Barrett, who serves on the federal appeals court in Chicago.