An adviser to President Trump on the Supreme Court vacancy said the list of people who are being seriously considered “can change day-to-day.”
Leonard Leo told Fox News the contenders generating the most discussion now are 10th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Neil Gorsuch of Colorado, 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Thomas Hardiman of Pennsylvania and 11th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge William Pryor of Alabama.
Leo said Wednesday night that Gorsuch has a “very distinguished record of judicial service” and brings executive branch experience to the table.
Leo praised Hardiman’s intellect and said, “He’s interesting because he was both a trial court judge in the federal system but also a court of appeals judge so it’s a slightly different range of experience.”
And of Pryor, Leo said, “He’s well known to the conservative movement” and “he’s someone who knows a lot about both the criminal law and constitutional law.”
“This is the Scalia seat,” Leo told Fox News of the vacancy. “I think there’s a hope that Democrats will recognize that the balance of the court doesn’t change with the appointment of this next justice.”
“Secondly, I think there’s a hope that if the president nominates someone who is extraordinarily talented, strong intellectually, and is in the mainstream of legal thought— and all of these people we’re talking about are — that while there will be lots of debate and some disagreement, the Senate ultimately will confirm the nominee without a high degree of obstruction.”
Leo added that he thought voters’ choosing of Trump because of the high court vacancy allowed the president to have “relatively wide latitude” when making his Supreme Court selection, a decision that Trump has said he would do Thursday.
