Trump says he’s ready to nominate up to three Supreme Court justices
President Donald Trump said Wednesday he is “prepared” to nominate another Supreme Court justice to the bench, should a vacancy arise.
No justice has publicly announced plans to step down. However, speculation about Justice Samuel Alito, 76, who was hospitalized in March, persists.
Trump said he had a short list of candidates ready to go, but wasn’t sure whether there would be any changes to the nine members of the court before the end of the year.
“I don’t know,” the president told Fox Business’s Maria Bartiromo in an interview that aired Wednesday. “Justice Alito is in very good physical health, as you mentioned his name.”
Trump said the Democrats made a mistake with Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
“You make the case at a certain time that you give it up so you can have a justice … [with] your ideology, your policies … but it’s probably not easy to give up for people. Ginsburg could not do it.”
Trump said that, in theory, he could have up to three more picks before the end of his term.
“It could be two, could be three, could be one. I don’t know, I’m prepared to do it,” Trump said.
Trump went on to praise Alito’s leadership on the court.
Trump appointed three justices in his first term: Neil Gorsuch in 2017, Brett Kavanaugh in 2018, and Amy Coney Barrett in 2020 after Ginsburg’s death. Ginsburg died 46 days before the November 2020 election, which President Joe Biden won.
The Supreme Court currently has a 6-3 conservative majority, but as Trump has repeatedly noted, they don’t always vote together on key issues.
Trump was frustrated with the high court’s decision in the tariffs case. In February, a divided court found the president exceeded his authority by imposing billions of dollars in tariffs.
Conservative Justices Barrett and Gorsuch joined liberal Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Kentanji Brown Jackson, along with Chief Justice John Roberts, in the majority opinion. Justices Clarence Thomas, Kavanaugh, and Alito dissented.
After that ruling, Trump publicly ridiculed Gorsuch and Coney Barrett.
“Two of the people that voted for that, I appointed, and they sicken me,” Trump said. “They sicken me because they’re bad for our country.”
Hours after the high court’s tariff ruling, Trump imposed a 10% global entry tariff, which states and small businesses have since challenged.
Trump has also publicly fretted about how the Supreme Court will rule on a case involving his executive order on birthright citizenship.
On the first day of his second term, Trump signed an order denying citizenship to children born in the U.S. unless a parent is a U.S. citizen or green card holder. Several states challenged the order, and four federal judges have blocked it.
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in that case on April 1. A ruling is expected by summer and could significantly impact U.S. immigration.
Partly Sunny then Showers And Thunderstorms Likely
Latest News Stories
FAA funding problems hit airports in California, elsewhere
Judge bars ICE from acting against ‘protestors,’ ‘rapid response’ activists
Report: IL public schools show low academic proficiency, higher taxpayer funding
Watchdog: Special interest group paid legislators’ $25,000 resort bill
Union Pacific to ask appeals court for biometrics lawsuit exemption
Illinois quick hits: Notices of affected flights; injunction issued over ICE force
Evers, Grisham fly to Brazil for climate change summit as government remains shut down
Upcoming mass flight cancellations worry U.S. air travelers
JJC Authorizes Land Buy for Grundy County Expansion, Secures Site in Morris
Pritzker watching redistricting debate as GOP grapples with filibuster
Trump administration finds SNAP fraud
WATCH: Trump says tariffs may cost Americans ‘something’ but keep U.S. safe
