Vice President Mike Pence told congressional Republicans on Thursday they can expect President Trump to keep his promise and nominate a “strict constructionist” to fill the vacant Supreme Court seat.
“You all know about the list, and President Trump has been reviewing that list,” Pence told House and Senate Republicans gathered for their annual retreat in Philadelphia.
During the campaign, Trump released a list of 21 conservative judges and justices from which he plans to choose a nominee next Thursday.
“I can already tip you off,” Pence continued. “President Trump is going to keep his promise and he’s going to nominate a strict constructionalist to the Supreme Court.”
Strict constructionism is a specific legal philosophy that stresses interpreting the Constitution exactly as it is written in its most literal and narrow definition.
Though Senate Democrats have vowed to block any nominee who fails to fit their definition of “mainstream and bipartisan,” Pence urged Republicans to quickly confirm Trump’s pick and fill the seat left empty since Justice Antonin Scalia passed last February.
“We hope you’ll move even faster when the president announces our nominee [for the Supreme Court],” Pence said after briefly mentioning the Cabinet confirmation proceedings that remain underway.
Trump is said to be strongly considering Judge Neil Gorsuch and Judge Thomas Hardiman for the high court. He met with former Alabama Attorney General William Pryor, a candidate on his list, just two days before his inauguration.
