President Trump has reportedly finished formally interviewing candidates to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court, with three federal appeals court judges emerging as the leading contenders.
In the week since Kennedy announced his retirement, ending 30 years on the Supreme Court, Trump has spoken with seven possible nominees, White House spokesman Hogan Gidley told reporters Tuesday.
Trump vowed to select his pick to the high court from a list of 25, but told reporters aboard Air Force One he has narrowed his list.
[Also read: Oddsmakers favor Kavanaugh, Thapar, Sen. Mike Lee for Supreme Court]
“I think I have it down to four people and I think of the four people, I have it down to three or two. I think they’re all outstanding,” he said.
Reports indicate that Judges Brett Kavanaugh of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Raymond Kethledge of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and Amy Coney Barrett of the 7th U.S. Circuit of Appeals are the frontrunners.
Judges Amul Thapar of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and Thomas Hardiman of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals were considered to be in the top five. Thapar was among those interviewed this week.
“I’ll say on the record that I am interviewing some extraordinarily talented and brilliant people and I’m very, very happy with them and we will pick somebody who will be outstanding, hopefully for many years to come,” Trump said.
The president is expected to announce a successor to Kennedy on Monday at 9 p.m., kicking off what is expected to be a brutal confirmation fight in the lead up to the November midterm elections.
Kennedy served as the Supreme Court’s swing vote for more than a decade, and it’s likely the court’s ideological leanings will shift to the right once Trump’s pick is confirmed.
But liberal advocacy groups and Democratic senators are already laying the groundwork for a tough confirmation battle, sounding the alarm about the future of Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 case that established a woman’s right to an abortion, and the Affordable Care Act.
Their efforts are primarily focused on two Republican senators, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and a handful of vulnerable Democrats up for re-election in November.
As supporters of abortion rights, Collins and Murkowski are considered pivotal to the GOP-led Senate’s confirmation of a new justice, particularly because there are only 50 voting Republican senators.
Collins said she would not support a nominee who showed a “hostility” to Roe.
Abortion rights groups said Thursday future justices must be able to meet a new “personal liberty” standard, as terms like “precedent” don’t provide enough insight into how a candidate may rule in a challenge to Roe.
“The Senate must only confirm a justice who firmly declares that the Constitution protects individual liberty and the right of all people to make personal decisions about their bodies and relationships, including the right to contraception, the right to an abortion, and to marry the person who you choose,” Dawn Laguens, executive vice president of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, said during a press conference.
The roll-out of the new standard comes as Demand Justice, a liberal judicial group, began airing ads designed to ramp up the pressure on Collins and Murkowski.
The ads highlight Trump’s prior comments about wanting to name justices to the Supreme Court who will overturn Roe.
Collins is also getting hit with ads in Maine newspapers urging her to oppose Trump’s Supreme Court nominee. NARAL Pro-Choice America is footing the bill for the ads, which will run in print and on the homepages of four newspapers.
While Democrats and liberal groups are mobilizing in preparation for Trump’s announcement, conservatives are hoping the president’s nominee is in the mold of the late Justice Antonin Scalia and his replacement on the Supreme Court, Justice Neil Gorsuch.
Both Kavanaugh and Kethledge were appointed to the appeals courts by President George W. Bush and are in their early 50s.
Some conservative groups have raised concerns about Kavanaugh, particularly for rulings in two cases involving Obamacare and a third involving an illegal immigrant teenager seeking an abortion.
Kavanaugh and Kethledge, though, have extensive judicial records in contrast to Barrett, who has served on the federal bench for less than a year.
But Barrett enjoys the support of social conservative groups who believe her nomination would mobilize GOP voters. She catapulted to conservative stardom last year when, during her confirmation process, she faced questions about her Catholic faith.
