The conservative community is abuzz with anticipation as they await former President Donald Trump's updated list of potential Supreme Court nominees.
The hope is that a second term for Trump would solidify the presence of more originalist judges on the bench, reinforcing traditional values and limited government.
Trump's judicial appointments, both to the Supreme Court and lower courts, are often hailed as his most significant achievement during his presidency, according to the Daily Caller. While he has repeatedly promised to release a new list of potential nominees before the election, the names remain a mystery. However, many within the conservative legal sphere believe that his federal appeals court appointees are likely contenders.
"?"President Trump has said that, apart from matters of war and peace, the nomination of a Supreme Court justice is the most important decision an American President can make," Trump Campaign Senior Advisor Brian Hughes told the Daily Caller News Foundation. "As President, he appointed constitutionalist judges who interpret the law as written, and he will do so again when voters send him back to the White House."
In a conversation with CBS News political correspondent Caitlin Huey-Burns, Trump revealed that he would release a shortlist "over the next three or four weeks." He also expressed his intention to release a new list to the Washington Times in March, suggesting that his then-opponent, President Joe Biden, should do the same.
"I'm going to be putting together a list of judges great judges a list of about 20. I think it's important to reveal who your Supreme Court justices will be," Trump told the outlet in March. "There are people who say the list helped me win the election last time."
Trump's initial list of 11 potential nominees, released in May 2016, represented the type of judge he would select to fill Justice Antonin Scalia's seat after his death. This unprecedented move boosted confidence among conservative voters. From this expanded list, which included ten additional names released in September 2016, he selected Justice Neil Gorsuch.
Subsequent lists released by Trump in November 2017 and September 2020 included Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. The latter list was released shortly before the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Republican Utah Sen. Mike Lee and Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, both included on Trump's 2020 list, confessed to the Dispatch in July that they were unaware of who might be on the new list.
JCN President Carrie Severino told the DCNF, "There are many Trump appointees on the lower courts who have a record of demonstrating courage and commitment to the Constitution as it is written, and I would hope the next President will pick someone in that mold."
Mike Davis, President of the Article III Project, told the DCNF that Trump's "biggest and most consequential accomplishment of his first term was the transformation of the federal judiciary." He added, "President Trump will build on his success in his second term by appointing even more bold and courageous judges. All you have to do is look at his appointments to the critically important courts of appeals to see the likely contenders for the Supreme Court."
Several of Trump's appointees to appeals courts, including Fifth Circuit Judge Kyle Duncan, Fifth Circuit Judge James Ho, Eight Circuit Judge David Stras, Fifth Circuit Judge Don Willett, Eleventh Circuit Judge Barbara Lagoa, and D.C. Circuit Judge Gregory Katsas, have also been included on his prior lists.
Before selecting Gorsuch, Trump personally interviewed three other candidates, including Third Circuit Judge Thomas Hardiman, Eleventh Circuit Judge William Pryor, and then-Eastern District of Kentucky Judge Amul Thapar, who Trump later appointed to the Sixth Circuit.
John Malcolm, Vice President of the Heritage Foundations Institute for Constitutional Government, told the DCNF there are many who would make "outstanding justices," pointing to Thapar, Ho, Stras, Katsas, and Lagoa as a few who came to mind.
Malcolm also highlighted two others from Trumps prior lists, former solicitor generals Paul Clement and Noel Francisco, along with Fifth Circuit Judge Andrew Oldham, D.C. Circuit Judge Neomi Rao, Third Circuit Judge Stephanos Bibas, Eleventh Circuit Judge Elizabeth Branch, Sixth Circuit Judge Raymond Kethledge, and Ninth Circuit Judge Patrick Bumatay.
Clement has argued more cases before the Supreme Court since 2000 than any other attorney, including the recent Loper Bright case that led to the justices overturning Chevron deference in June.
Ho and Branch were among a group of federal judges who announced in May they would not hire clerks from Columbia University, which they called an incubator of bigotry, over the institutions handling of pro-Palestinian demonstrations. The two judges also said last year they would not hire clerks from Stanford Law after students shouted down Duncan during his speech for the schools Federalist Society chapter.
Trump included five recommendations from a list Malcolm compiled on his initial list of eleven potential nominees in 2016.
Ed Whelan, Antonin Scalia Chair in Constitutional Studies at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, noted in the National Review in July, "If Trump becomes President again, he could ensure a solid conservative majority on the Court for the next 15 or 20 years." He added, "An election that produces his victory would very likely give Republicans control of the Senate."
Whelan suggested that Trump can "build an outstanding list from the dozens of federal appellate judges he appointed" and proposed adding Francisco to the list. "On top of his superb qualifications, Francisco would be one of several appealing candidates to be the first Asian-American justice," he wrote.
Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris has not disclosed who she would nominate to the court. However, her record from her time in the Senate and as Californias attorney general reflects her views on the Constitution.
In the Senate, she used questions during nomination hearings to press appointees on their personal views on issues like climate change and abortion. As California attorney general, she consistently took left-wing positions on briefs she authored and signed, including on affirmative action, religious liberty, and LGBT issues.
President Joe Biden said in June that the next President is likely to have two new Supreme Court nominees. He said that is one of the scariest parts of a potential second term for Trump.
Biden proposed Supreme Court reforms in July that included a constitutional amendment to the recent decision on presidential immunity, term limits, and a code of conduct for the justices.
The Harris campaign did not respond to a request for comment. As the conservative community awaits Trump's updated list of potential Supreme Court nominees, they remain hopeful for a second term that would solidify the presence of more originalist judges on the bench, reinforcing traditional values and limited government.
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