...

Trump set to name conservative judge as US Supreme Court pick

Other News Materials 1 February 2017 02:52 (UTC +04:00)
President Donald Trump was set to unveil his pick on Tuesday for a lifetime job on the U.S. Supreme Court, likely choosing a conservative judge to try to shape the court for years to come on issues like abortion and gun and religious rights
Trump set to name conservative judge as US Supreme Court pick

President Donald Trump was set to unveil his pick on Tuesday for a lifetime job on the U.S. Supreme Court, likely choosing a conservative judge to try to shape the court for years to come on issues like abortion and gun and religious rights, Reuters reported .

Democrats, still fuming over the Republican-led Senate's refusal to act on former President Barack Obama's court nominee last year, girded for a fight.

Trump has announced he will reveal his choice to replace conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, who died last February, at the White House at 8 p.m. (0100 GMT on Wednesday).

"We'll be announcing a Supreme Court justice who I think everybody's going to be impressed with," Trump told reporters at a cyber security event in the White House.

The court is ideologically split with four conservative justices and four liberals, and Trump's pick can restore its conservative majority.

A source involved in the selection process said Trump had made his choice between two conservative U.S. appeals court judges - Neil Gorsuch and Thomas Hardiman. Both were appointed to the bench by former Republican President George W. Bush.

CNN, citing an unnamed source, said Gorsuch, a judge on the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, had been told he was the likely nominee.

Adding an element of drama to what is normally a sober announcement, CNN said both Gorsuch and Hardiman, who serves on the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, had been brought to Washington ahead of Tuesday's announcement.

The White House ratcheted up the tension by sending a statement calling on Americans to watch the decision live on Facebook. "You won't want to miss it!" the statement said.

A senior Senate Republican aide said Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had already been informed of Trump's pick, which the senator described as an "outstanding choice."

Under the Constitution, a president's Supreme Court nomination requires Senate confirmation.

Tags:
Latest

Latest