Court-Watchers Believe Trump Will Pick One of Two Candidates
Straight out of “The Apprentice,” reality TV show host and U.S. President Donald Trump has been trying to build up excitement over his as-yet unnamed Supreme Court pick.
Trump will announce live, on-air, his nominee. You can watch live below. The event is scheduled to begin at 8 PM EST.
As a candidate, Trump released a list he said was complied “first and foremost, based on constitutional principles, with input from highly respected conservatives and Republican Party leadership.” The right wing extremist think tank Heritage Foundation created the list, first published with 11 candidates in May, then expanded to 21 in September.
But journalists believe the president will nominate one of two people. Neil Gorsuch (photo, right) or Thomas Hardiman (photo, left), and right now both are sitting in the White House, according to CNN. The news network reports an unnamed source “said the administration is taking extraordinary measures to build suspense and keep the final selection under wraps for as close to the 8 p.m. EST announcement as possible.”
Both candidates are federal Court of Appeals judges.
Judge Gorsuch sits on the 10th Circuit, Judge Hardiman sits on the 3rd Circuit.
Any nominee will replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia, who passed away 50 weeks ago. The Republican-controlled U.S. Senate refused to even hold hearings on any nominee President Barack Obama would nominate. When the president announced a moderate, highly-confirmable choice, Judge Merrick Garland, most Republicans refused to even sit down with him.
Democrats face a tough fight to protect the Court, but some are already announcing they will not try to block Trump’s pick.
Tonight’s event is scheduled to begin at 8 PM EST.
You can watch live below, or on any of the cable news networks.