Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley on Trump’s list of potential SCOTUS nominees if he’s reelected
President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced an updated list of his potential nominees for the Supreme Court if he’s reelected in November.
The president announced the list during a news conference at the White House. Among the 20 potential nominees were Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, and Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas.
“Together we will defend our righteous heritage and preserve our magnificent American way of life,” the president said of the potential nominees.
He went on to call them “outstanding people.”
Shortly after the president’s announcement, Sen. Cotton tweeted about repealing Roe v. Wade and his support of the Second Amendment.
Hawley tweeted he has “no interest in the high court” but said he looks forward to confirming “constitutional conservatives” while serving in the Senate.
“I appreciate the president’s confidence in listing me as a potential Supreme Court nominee. But as I told the President, Missourians elected me to fight for them in the Senate,” he wrote.
Cruz tweeted that he’s “humbled” and “deeply honored” to be included on the list.
“I spent this Summer writing a book on the Supreme Court, telling the inside story of how our constitutional liberties hang in the balance, One Vote Away,” he tweeted.
There’s no vacancy now on the Supreme Court but it’s probable the next president will have the chance to nominate at least one justice. There’s currently a 5-4 divide between conservatives and liberals on the bench, with multiple justices — including liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg — in their 70s and 80s.
Trump has already had two nominees put on the court. Justice Neil Gorsuch joined the bench in April 2017, replacing Justice Antonin Scalia, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh joined in October 2018, replacing Justice Anthony Kennedy.
A senator hasn’t been added to the Supreme Court in recent decades. Former Sen. Sherman Minton, D- Indiana, was the last to serve on the high court from 1949–1956, according to the U.S. Senate’s website.
The president’s release of new potential nominees is a strategy he employed during his 2016 campaign, when he released his initial list in an effort to “win over conservative and evangelical voters,” the Associate Press reports. The names he unveiled Wednesday are in addition to his original list.
“Apart from matters of war and peace, the nomination of a Supreme Court justice is the most important decision an American president can make. For this reason, candidates for president owe the American people a specific list of individuals they consider for the United States Supreme Court,” he said during the conference.
Trump also called on Democratic nominee Joe Biden to release a list of justices he would nominate if elected president and if a seat opens on the court. It’s unclear if Biden plans to do so.
This story was originally published September 9, 2020 at 1:46 PM with the headline "Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley on Trump’s list of potential SCOTUS nominees if he’s reelected."
