Donald Trump Supreme Court candidates

Speculation over potential nominations to the Supreme Court of the United States by incoming President Donald Trump have been fueled by statements that Trump made during the 2016 Presidential campaign regarding his preferences with regard to judicial appointments.

Court composition

If President Obama's nominee for the Supreme Count does not assume the seat formerly occupied by Antonin Scalia, Trump will begin his term with a vacancy to be filled. As three of the Court's justices—Ruth Bader Ginsburg (born 1933), Anthony Kennedy (born 1936) and Stephen Breyer (born 1938)—are or will soon turn 80, a fact that has stoked speculation that additional vacancies may occur during Trump's four-year presidential term.[1]

Provided its membership remains unchanged through Trump's presidential inauguration on January 20, 2017, the Supreme Court will be composed of the following eight justices:

Name Age in Jan. 2017 Serving since Appointed by
Roberts, JohnJohn Roberts
(Chief Justice)		 61 2005 George W. Bush
Kennedy, AnthonyAnthony Kennedy 80 1988 Ronald Reagan
Thomas, ClarenceClarence Thomas 68 1991 George H. W. Bush
Ginsburg, Ruth BaderRuth Bader Ginsburg 83 1993 Bill Clinton
Breyer, StephenStephen Breyer 78 1994 Bill Clinton
Alito, SamuelSamuel Alito 66 2006 George W. Bush
Sotomayor, SoniaSonia Sotomayor 62 2009 Barack Obama
Kagan, ElenaElena Kagan 56 2010 Barack Obama

Antonin Scalia vacancy

On February 13, 2016, Associate Justice Antonin Scalia was found dead while vacationing at Cibolo Creek Ranch near Marfa, Texas.[2] President Barack Obama stated that he planned to nominate someone to replace Scalia on the Supreme Court.[3] Scalia's death marked just the second time in sixty years that a sitting justice died.[4]

On March 16, 2016, Obama nominated Merrick Garland, Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, to replace Scalia.[5] On February 23, 2016, the 11 Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee signed a letter to Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell stating their intention to withhold consent on any nominee made by President Obama, and that no hearings would occur until after January 20, 2017, when Donald Trump takes office.[6] The 11 members are Committee Chair Chuck Grassley, Iowa;[7] Orrin Hatch and Mike Lee, Utah; Jeff Sessions, Alabama; Lindsey Graham, South Carolina; John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, Texas; Jeff Flake, Arizona; David Vitter, Louisiana; David Perdue, Georgia; and Thom Tillis, North Carolina. After Garland's nomination, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell reiterated his position that the Senate would not confirm any Supreme Court nomination from Obama.[5] Garland's nomination is currently pending before the Senate.

Although it has been speculated that the Senate may consider this nomination during the lame-duck session following the election, in the absence of such consideration, Trump would begin his term with a vacancy to be filled on the Supreme Court. In addition, Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg (born 1933), Anthony Kennedy (born 1936) and Stephen Breyer (born 1938) are or will be over 80 years old during the president's first term of office, stoking speculation that additional appointments will be forthcoming.

On May 18, 2016, Trump released a "short list" of judges for nomination to the Scalia vacancy.[8] In September 2016, Trump released a second list of ten possible nominees, this time adding three minorities to the list, described as Trump's "latest effort to shore up Republican and minority support".[9] Originalist law professor Ilya Somin and Libertarian author Damon Root have each argued that Trump cannot be trusted to appoint judges from his list, and that Trump would likely instead nominate judges who support aspects of his agenda such as expanding executive power, expanding the use of eminent domain/expropriation, and applying stop and frisk tactics more vigorously.[10][11]

Names mentioned as possible nominees

Courts of Appeals

United States Courts of Appeals

United States District Courts

State Supreme Courts

Intermediate State Courts

United States Senators

Private practice

Business

See also

References

  1. ↑ Ruger, Todd (19 October 2016). "Clinton, Trump Talk Around Senate in Supreme Court Debate". Roll Call. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  2. ↑ Liptak, Alan (February 13, 2016), "Justice Antonin Scalia, Who Led a Conservative Renaissance on the Supreme Court, Is Dead at 79", The New York Times, retrieved February 17, 2016
  3. ↑ "President Obama Delivers a Statement on the Passing of Supreme Court Justice Scalia", Rancho Mirage, CA (February 13, 2016).
  4. ↑ Gresko, Jessica (February 14, 2016). "Scalia's death in office a rarity for modern Supreme Court". Associated Press. Retrieved February 15, 2016.
  5. 1 2 Shear, Michael D. (16 March 2016). "Obama Chooses Merrick Garland for Supreme Court". New York Times. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
  6. ↑
  7. ↑ "Grassley on Supreme Court Nomination: 'We have a constitutional responsibility". Des Moines, Iowa: WHO tv interview. March 1, 2016. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Alan Rappeport, Charlie Savage (May 18, 2016). "Donald Trump Releases List of Possible Supreme Court Picks". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2016-07-22.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Jeremy Diamond, Ariane de Vogue and Ashley Killough, "Trump floats more potential Supreme Court picks — including Sen. Mike Lee", CNN (September 23, 2016).
  10. ↑ Ilya Somin, "Donald Trump’s expanded Supreme Court list changes nothing", The Washington Post (September 24, 2016).
  11. ↑ Damon Root, "Can Trump Be Trusted on Supreme Court Appointments?", Reason.com (September 26, 2016).
  12. 1 2 3 New York Sun (2016-11-29). "Three for the Nine". The New York Sun. Retrieved 2016-11-29.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Adam Feldman (2016-11-14). "An Alternate Take on Trump's Potential Supreme Court Nominees". Empirical SCOTUS. Retrieved 2016-11-15.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Reena Flores, Major Garrett (2016-09-23). "Donald Trump expands list of possible Supreme Court picks". CBS News. Retrieved 2016-11-13.
  15. 1 2 John G. Malcolm (2016-03-30). "The Next Supreme Court Justice". The Daily Signal. Retrieved 2016-11-20.
  16. ↑ "Trump Ally: Fox Judge And 9/11 Truther Andrew Napolitano Is "Probably Trump's Number One Pick For" Supreme Court". Media Matters for America. March 1, 2016.
  17. ↑ "Sen. Lindsey Graham offers thoughts on Supreme Court nominee". WYFF4.com. Retrieved 2016-11-13.
  18. ↑ "Donald Trump Wants Peter Thiel On The Supreme Court, Sources Say". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2016-11-13.
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