The death of US Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg leaves an opening on the highest American court, which president Donald Trump seems likely to fill in the months ahead. Despite the late justice’s wishes, majority leader Mitch McConnell has said Trump’s nominee will get a vote on the Senate floor.
Who could replace Ginsburg? To court conservative voters, Trump has publicly shared multiple lists of potential Supreme Court nominees over his career as a politician, most recently on Sept. 9. His two previous nominees, justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, appeared on prior lists. Trump has appointed a quarter of current federal judges, including radical conservatives and many younger choices who could serve for decades in lifetime seats.
Court watchers suspect that Judge Amy Coney Barrett, a finalist before Trump tapped Kavanaugh, is the most likely choice among five judges admired by conservatives.
And then there’s Trump’s latest list of potential nominees, a mix of politicians, stalwarts of the Republican establishment and youthful conservatives:
- Bridget Bade (US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit)
- Daniel Cameron (Kentucky attorney general) The only Black candidate on the list, Cameron is also 34 years old.
- Paul Clement (former solicitor general of the United States)
- Senator Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) Would love this job.
- Senator Ted Cruz (R-Tex.)
- Stuart Kyle Duncan (US Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit)
- Steven Engel (Office of Legal Counsel, DOJ)
- Noel Francisco (former solicitor general of the United States)
- Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) Tweeted that he’s not interested in the job.
- James Ho (US Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit)
- Greg Katsas (US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit)
- Barbara Lagoa (US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit)
- Christopher Landau (US ambassador to Mexico)
- Carlos Muñiz (Supreme Court of Florida)
- Martha Pacold (US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois)
- Peter Phipps (US Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit)
- Sarah Pitlyk (US District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri)
- Allison Jones Rushing (US Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit)
- Kate Todd (deputy White House counsel)
- Lawrence Van Dyke (US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit)