President Trump is set to announce his Supreme Court pick in prime time Tuesday night. There have been reports that Trump, who during the campaign named 21 prospective nominees and promised his final choice would be one of them, has narrowed his options to three, all currently serving on federal courts of appeals: Neil Gorsuch from the 10th Circuit, Thomas Hardiman from the 3rd, and William Pryor from the 11th.
But there’s also a feeling in Washington that some other player might still be in the mix. When discussing Senate-confirmed nominations, it always makes sense to look at the favorites of powerful senators, and in that case, there just happens to be one candidate on the Trump list from Kentucky and two from Iowa — the home states, respectively, of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley. (Amul Thapar, who has often been praised by McConnell, is currently on the U.S. District Court in Kentucky, while Iowan Steven Colloton serves on the 8th Circuit, and Edward Mansfield serves on the Iowa Supreme Court.) Things might not be as narrowed-down as some think.
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