President Donald Trump released an updated list of potential Supreme Court nominees Wednesday that the Republican president pledges to pick from in the event of a new vacancy over the court of his second term.
BREAKING: President Trump announces additions to his list of potential SCOTUS nominees, including Sens. Tom Cotton, Ted Cruz, and Josh Hawley pic.twitter.com/wPlSAWEQkH
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) September 9, 2020
The list of 20 names added to the existing pool of 44 contenders includes three Republican U.S. senators and a series of conservative legal professionals who were also included in prior versions of Trump’s potential nomination lineup.
The new possible nominees include Bridget Bade, Daniel Cameron, Paul Clement, Kyle Duncan, Steven Engel, Noel Francisco, James Ho, Greg Katsas, Barbara Lagoa, Chris Landau, Carlos Muniz, Martha Pacold, Peter Phipps, Sarah Pitlyk, Allison Rushing, Kate Todd, and Lawrence VanDyke alongside Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Ted Cruz of Texas, and Josh Hawley of Missouri.
Trump released his first list of potential candidates for the high court in May 2016 to reassure skeptical conservatives of his commitment to selecting nominees with an adherence to a strict, constructionist Constitutional philosophy following decades of liberal justices legislating from the bench.
Over the course of the two vacancies filled by the president, one of which opened up in early 2016 just months prior to election day and before the Trump campaign published its first list of possible justices, Trump kept his word and appointed Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh to the nation’s highest court.
Trump’s Wednesday announcement, just 55 days from election day, was met with widespread approval among energized conservatives hoping the next Supreme Court justice will be the final blow to Roe. v. Wade, the 1973 court ruling protecting abortion. The White House has also made appointing conservative judges to the federal judiciary a key priority of the administration, appointing 205 federal judges over the court of his first term, according the Heritage Foundation’s judicial tracker.
“President Trump continues to keep his promise to transform the federal judiciary and his newest list of potential Supreme Court picks is further evidence of this,” said Maureen Ferguson, a senior fellow at the Catholic Association. “In releasing this expanded list, he brings transparency and clarity to the American voters who care about the rule of law and the defense of our constitutional rights. Most of the additions come from the pool of his extraordinary appointees to the circuit courts. Voters are left to wonder why Joe Biden won’t treat them with the same respect and release a list of his own.”
