Trump reveals list of 11 potential Supreme Court nominees

Steven Colloton – Colloton has served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit since 2003 and previously worked as a law clerk for the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist, a notable conservative. Colloton also served in the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel and as a U.S. attorney in Northern Iowa.

Allison Eid – Eid was appointed to Colorado’s Supreme Court in 2006 by former Republican Gov. Bill Owens. She previously served as Colorado’s solicitor general and clerked for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

Raymond Gruender – Gruender was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in 2004 by former President George W. Bush. He previously served as a U.S. Attorney in Missouri and was included on a list of possible conservative Supreme Court picks published by The Heritage Foundation in March.

Thomas Hardiman – Hardiman has served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit since 2007. He was nominated by Bush in 2006 and unanimously confirmed in the Senate a year later. Hardiman clerked for the late conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, who died suddenly in February.

Raymond Kethledge – Kethledge has served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit since his appointment by Bush in 2008. He previously worked as a law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, who was nominated by former President Ronald Reagan in 1987.

Joan Larsen – Larsen was appointed to Michigan’s Supreme Court in 2015 by the state’s Republican Gov. Rick Snyder. In addition to clerking for Scalia, Larsen previously served as assistant attorney general in the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel.

Thomas Lee – Lee is the brother of Utah Sen. Mike Lee, who has also been floated among conservatives as a potential Supreme Court nominee. Lee has served as an Associate Justice on Utah’s Supreme Court since 2010 and previously worked in the Justice Department’s Civil Division.

William Pryor – Pryor has served on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit since 2004 and was previously U.S. Attorney General for Alabama. Pryor, a member of the U.S. Sentencing Commission, has been one of the most-talked about potential Supreme Court nominees in conservative circles and was also included on the Heritage Foundation’s unofficial list of recommended nominees in March.

David Stras – Stras has served on Minnesota’s Supreme Court since 2010, after he was appointed by former Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty. He taught law for six years at the University of Minnesota and previously clerked for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

Diane Sykes – Sykes has served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit since 2004 after spending years as a Justice of Wisconsin’s Supreme Court. Sykes was floated as potential Supreme Court pick by Trump earlier this year when he was first asked who he would consider nominating. She is the ex-wife of conservative radio host Charlie Sykes, who spent the weeks leading up to Wisconsin’s Republican primary blasting Trump on his program.

Don Willett – Willett was appointed to Texas’ Supreme Court by former Texas Gov. Rick Perry in 2005. On the day of Trump’s presidential announcement last June, Willett took to Twitter to question the candidate’s judgement concerning the selection of Supreme Court nominees.

The Trump campaign said in a statement Wednesday that the candidate’s list of potential Supreme Court nominees was “compiled, first and foremost, based on constitutional principles, with input from highly respected conservatives and Republican Party leadership.”

“The following list of potential Supreme Court justices is representative of the kind of constitutional principles I value and, as President, I plan to use this list as a guide to nominate our next United States Supreme Court Justices,” Trump said in the statement.

According to Carrie Severino, a former clerk for Justice Thomas who now serves as chief counsel for the Judicial Crisis Network, the 11 individuals Trump named each have a “record of putting the law and the Constitution ahead of their political preferences.”

“This list ought to be encouraging to anyone who prioritizes the rule of law, and I congratulate Mr. Trump on making a very significant policy statement about his desire to prioritize the future of the Supreme Court,” Severino said in a statement.