Donald Trump’s list of prospective Supreme Court nominees won praise from the lead opponent of Judge Merrick Garland’s confirmation to the high court.
“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,” said Carrie Severino of the Judicial Crisis Network, a former clerk for Justice Clarence Thomas.
Severino has served as the vanguard for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and other Republicans who have decided that the next president should replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia. She regards Garland as a reliable voter for liberal causes and a particular threat to gun rights and pro-life legislation.
Trump’s list includes several well-regarded conservative judges. The most striking olive branch to the right might be his inclusion of Judge Thomas Lee, the brother of Utah’s Mike Lee, a Tea Party senator who endorsed Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and has yet to endorse Trump.
“I have some concerns with him,” Sen. Lee said last week of Trump. “He scares me to death; so does Hillary Clinton. There is no easy choice right now.”
Severino said the list is reassuring. “The names on this list would need to be vetted, obviously, but they all seem to share in common a record of putting the law and the Constitution ahead of their political preferences,” she said. “The court needs more justices who will base their decisions on the law, not politics, even under pressure, especially since the next president is likely to determine the direction of the court for a generation.”
Trump’s list also featured Judge Diane Sykes, a Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals Judge. But that didn’t win over Charlie Sykes, the judge’s ex-husband, who used his perch as a Wisconsin radio host to say he still opposes Trump. “Diane would be an outstanding choice,” he tweeted. “Would make a great justice. But I simply don’t believe Trump …”
