President Trump on Friday said he is not interested in selecting a Supreme Court nominee who will participate in “judicial activism” from the bench. His comments come just days before he is scheduled to reveal his pick to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy.
“In choosing Justice Kennedy’s replacement, my greatest responsibility is to select a justice who will faithfully interpret the Constitution as written,” Trump said in his weekly presidential address, which was posted online Friday. “Judges are not supposed to re-write the law, re-invent the Constitution, or substitute their own opinions for the will of the people expressed through their laws.
“We reject judicial activism and policy-making from the bench,” he added, noting that the Supreme Court’s foremost responsibility is “issuing neutral judgments based upon” laws created by Congress and rights protected within the Constitution.
[Related: Trump narrows field of possible Supreme Court nominees to three]
The statement comes as Trump prepares to announce his second nominee for the high court out of three judges whom he personally interviewed earlier this week: Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett, and Raymond Kethledge. Each of the candidates was drawn from a list of 25 conservative judges developed as part of a joint effort between the White House and the Federalist Society. Trump will announce his pick on Monday, July 9 at 9 a.m. ET.
Several progressive groups have already criticized the president for exclusively looking at conservative candidates, claiming they would be likely to overturn landmark rulings such as Roe v. Wade and Obergefell v. Hodges if given the opportunity. Some of these groups have launched ads urging red-state Democrats and moderate GOP Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Susan Collins of Maine, against voting for the president’s nominee if he or she displays any willingness to overturn decisions involving abortion rights, same-sex marriage, and protections for minority groups.
Trump has already met with three vulnerable Senate Democrats who are facing pressure ahead of the November midterm elections to back his nominee, in addition to making calls to Republican members to lobby support ahead of what is likely to be a grueling confirmation process in the upper chamber.
“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,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One Thursday night.
