Donald Trump has released a list of 11 judges whom he would consider nominating to the U.S. Supreme Court if he is elected president and the late associate justice Antonin Scalia's seat remains empty. The Associated Press reported that these names are on the list: Steven Colloton of Iowa, Allison Eid of Colorado, Raymond Gruender of Missouri, Thomas Hardiman of Pennsylvania, Raymond Kethledge of Michigan, Joan Larsen of Michigan, Thomas Lee of Utah, William Pryor of Alabama, David Stras of Minnesota, Diane Sykes of Wisconsin and Don Willett of Texas.
Five of the potential nominees – Eid, Lee, Stras, Larsen and Willett -- are on state supreme courts. The rest serve on U.S. circuit courts of appeals -- Colloton and Gruender on the 8th, Hardiman on the 3rd, Kethledge on the 6th, Sykes on the 7th and Pryor on the 11th.
Trump first promised to release the list in March, when his then-rival Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) accused him of not being a true conservative and warned Republicans that Trump would appoint liberal judges to the court. At the time, Trump said he was working with the Heritage Foundation to formulate a list of potential nominees and that if elected president, he would only pick from that list.
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"I'm going to submit a list of justices, potential justices of the United States Supreme Court that I will appoint, from the list — I won't go beyond that list,” Trump said at a news conference in Washington in late March. “I'm going to let people know, because some people say: Oh, maybe I'll appoint a liberal judge. I'm not appointing a liberal judge."
In releasing the list Wednesday – more than a month later than Trump first promised – the candidate made clear that the list only pertains to the seat formerly occupied by Scalia. The campaign said in a statement that “this list was compiled, first and foremost, based on constitutional principles, with input from highly respected conservatives and Republican Party leadership.”
“Justice Scalia was a remarkable person and a brilliant Supreme Court Justice,” Trump said in a statement. “His career was defined by his reverence for the Constitution and his legacy of protecting Americans’ most cherished freedoms. He was a Justice who did not believe in legislating from the bench and he is a person whom I held in the highest regard and will always greatly respect his intelligence and conviction to uphold the Constitution of our country. The following list of potential Supreme Court justices is representative of the kind of constitutional principles I value and, as President, I plan to use this list as a guide to nominate our next United States Supreme Court Justices.”
