Trump Interviews Four Candidates as Supreme Court Fight Heats up

By Washington Times. President Trump interviewed four candidates Monday in his search for the next Supreme Court nominee, with two federal appeals court judges emerging as leading contenders for the nomination that could change the complexion of the high court for decades to come.

The White House was giving few details on the candidates while pressing to meet an extraordinarily ambitious deadline to produce a nominee by Monday.

“I had a very, very interesting morning,” Mr. Trump said after meeting with the candidates at the White House for about 45 minutes each. He called the contenders “really incredible people in so many different ways.”

Mr. Trump said he plans to meet with two or three more prospective nominees this week before announcing his decision, his second Supreme Court nomination in less than 18 months.

The president and his team are moving rapidly to find a replacement for Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, the longtime moderate swing vote who announced his retirement last week and provided Mr. Trump with a rare opportunity to move the high court firmly under conservatives’ control. With Justice Kennedy leaving, the court now has two solid contingents of four liberal and four conservative justices. The next justice could be a critical vote on such issues as abortion, same-sex marriage, federal powers and government regulation. (Read more from “Trump Interviews Four Candidates as Supreme Court Fight Heats up” HERE)

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One of These Women Could Be Trump’s Supreme Court Pick

By NBC News. President Donald Trump’s short list of contenders to succeed retiring Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy includes two women, he has said, and that could have powerful implications not just for the law but the politics surrounding the choice.

There are six women among the 25 possible nominees Trump has publicly named already, including a federal appellate judge, Amy Barrett, and a Georgia Supreme Court justice, Britt Grant, who were put on the list late last year.

If one of the women is chosen and confirmed, she would become the fifth woman in history to serve on the court and the fourth among the current lineup of justices, joining Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, all of whom were appointed by Democratic presidents.

And, important to both sides on the political spectrum, Trump’s nominee, if it’s a woman, would be the first appointed to the court likely to thrill hard-line conservatives. Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who was nominated by President Ronald Reagan, rankled the political right by refusing to upend the controversial Roe v. Wade decision that overturned state laws banning abortion and sometimes siding with the court’s liberals on other issues. (Read more from “One of These Women Could Be Trump’s Supreme Court Pick” HERE)

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