Civic Register
| 9.9.20

Trump Releases List of 20 Potential Supreme Court Nominees - Would You Support Any of the Contenders?

Would you support the confirmation of a future Supreme Court nominee from Trump’s list?

What’s the story?

  • President Donald Trump on Wednesday released a list of 20 candidates he would consider selecting to serve as a Supreme Court justice if a seat on the bench of the nation’s highest court were to become vacant.
  • Trump made judicial nominations a focus of his presidential campaign when he released an initial list of candidates in May 2016 after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia created a vacancy on the Supreme Court.
  • Both of President Trump’s first term Supreme Court appointments to date were chosen after they featured on his public list of candidates ― Justice Neil Gorsuch was a judge on the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals before he filled the Scalia vacancy, while Justice Brett Kavanaugh was a judge on the D.C. Circuit.

Who are the new potential nominees?

  • Judge Bridget Bade, 9th Circuit Court of Appeals
  • Judge Stuart Kyle Duncan, 5th Circuit Court of Appeals
  • Judge James Ho, 5th Circuit Court of Appeals
  • Judge Gregory Katsas, D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals
  • Judge Barbara Lagoa, 11th Circuit Court of Appeals
  • Justice Carlos Muniz, Florida Supreme Court
  • Judge Martha Packold, Northern District of Illinois
  • Judge Peter Phipps, 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals
  • Judge Sarah Pitlyk, Eastern District of Missouri
  • Judge Allison Jones Rushing, 4th Circuit Court of Appeals
  • Daniel Cameron, Kentucky Attorney General
  • Paul Clement, former Solicitor General
  • Noel Francesco, former Solicitor General
  • Stephen Engel, Assistant Attorney General
  • Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) - (Cruz tweeted that he is honored to be on the list.)
  • Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) - (Cotton released a statement that he is honored to be on the list.)
  • Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) - (Hawley tweeted that he has no interest in SCOTUS.)
  • Christopher Landau, U.S. Ambassador to Mexico

Who are the holdovers from Trump’s prior lists?

  • Judge Amy Coney Barrett, 7th Circuit Court of Appeals
  • Justice Keith Blackwell, Georgia Supreme Court
  • Justice Charles Canady, Florida Supreme Court
  • Judge Steven Colloton, 8th Circuit Court of Appeals
  • Judge Allison Eid, 10th Circuit Court of Appeals
  • Justice Britt Grant, Georgia Supreme Court
  • Judge Raymond Gruender, 8th Circuit Court of Appeals
  • Judge Thomas Hardiman, 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals
  • Judge Raymond Kethledge, 6th Circuit Court of Appeals
  • Judge Joan Larsen, 6th Circuit Court of Appeals
  • Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT)
  • Justice Thomas Lee, Utah Supreme Court
  • Justice Edward Mansfield, Iowa Supreme Court
  • Judge Federico Moreno, Southern District of Florida
  • Judge Kevin Newsom, 11th Circuit Court of Appeals
  • Judge William Pryor, 11th Circuit Court of Appeals
  • Judge Margaret Ryan, Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces
  • Judge David Stras, 8th Circuit Court of Appeals
  • Judge Diane Sykes, 7th Circuit Court of Appeals
  • Judge Amul Thapar, 6th Circuit Court of Appeals
  • Judge Timothy Tymokovich, 10th Circuit Court of Appeals
  • Justice Robert Young, Michigan Supreme Court (retired)
  • Justice Patrick Wyrick, Oklahoma Supreme Court
  • Judge Don Willett, 5th Circuit Court of Appeals


— Eric Revell

(Photo Credit: Supermac1961 via Flickr / Creative Commons)