Trump in rush to name Supreme Court pick
WHITE HOUSE WORKING WITH SENATE REPUBLICANS TO SET A RAPID TIMELINE FOR VOTING ON A NOMINEE BY OCTOBER
President Donald Trump is driving to execute the same playbook in selecting a new Supreme Court nominee that last year delivered swift confirmation of Justice Neil Gorsuch, following a methodical course in hopes of avoiding the lurching disorder that so often engulfs his White House.
As Trump looks to reorient the nation’s high court with a replacement for retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy, he has left himself little room for improvisation — in part because he has delegated and outsourced much of the spadework.
Using Gorsuch as a model, the president has said his next nominee will be chosen from a pre-selected list of 25 candidates, most of them already fixtures on the federal courts who have been subject to public and internal vetting.
The interview process for a half-dozen or so finalists is beginning, including private sit-downs with Trump starting this weekend at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf course, as well as sessions with White House Counsel Donald McGahn and formal FBI background checks.
An announcement date has also been set: July 9, the first Monday after the July 4 holiday and the day before Trump jets to Brussels for a weeklong European trip.
With just four months until the midterm elections, when any Democratic gains in the Senate would jeopardise a Trump nominee, the White House is working with Senate Republican leaders to set a rapid timeline for voting on a nominee by October so they can take advantage of the GOP’s razorthin majority in the chamber.
Trump and senior White House officials already are personally lobbying key senators, labouring to till the ground ahead of what is expected to be a ferocious nomination battle.
Trump says he understands the stakes.
“Outside of war and peace, of course, the most important decision you make is the selection of a Supreme Court judge,” the president told reporters Friday.
In most other realms, Trump is quick to reject norms and resist the established order.
Where previous presidents zigged, the 45th almost always wants to zag. But not when it comes to the Supreme Court.
So far, at least, Trump is taking direction from his counsellors, including two with deep roots in Washington’s conservative network: McGahn and Leonard Leo, who is on leave from the Federalist Society to informally advise on judicial nominations.
Historic pace
Since before taking office, Trump has strategised with McGahn, Leo and others about aggressively filling federal court vacancies to permanently shift the judiciary to the right. The pace has been historic — and, for conservatives, the outcome has been an undeniable success.
Trump has told advisers he is looking for three overarching attributes in a replacement for Kennedy. First, one adviser said, Trump insists upon an “extraordinarily well qualified” nominee with a superlative resume. The president is especially drawn to contenders with name-brand degrees, such as from Ivy League universities like Harvard or Yale.
He also wants to see a portfolio of solid academic writing, though this adviser acknowledged Trump does not care to read it; he simply wants to know it exists.
Secondly, Trump has said is essential his nominee be “not weak,” meaning someone with independent judgement and the courage to buck “the political and social fashions of the day,” as the adviser put it.
Thirdly, Trump privately says he wants a nominee who will “interpret the Constitution the way the framers meant it to be,” according to the adviser, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to relate a private discussion with the president.
Personal chemistry
And as he does with all job candidates, Trump will be looking also for personal chemistry, central-casting looks and relatable life stories.
Last year, Trump was drawn to Thomas Hardiman, runnerup to Gorsuch in the court sweepstakes, in part because of his working-class roots.
Hardiman was the first in his family to graduate from college, helped pay for his education by driving a taxi, and now is a federal appeals court judge in Pittsburgh, an area of Pennsylvania where Trump has a strong political following.
Hardiman is believed to be a contender this time as well. Trump’s shortlist also is said to possibly include US Appeals Court Judge Amy Coney Barrett of Indiana; US Circuit Judge Brett Kavanaugh of Maryland, a former Kennedy law clerk; US Circuit Judge Raymond Kethledge of Michigan, who was a finalist last year; and US Appeals Court Judge Amul Thapar of Kentucky.