Trump's shortlist down to 4 Supreme Court nominees, sources tell ABC News
WASHINGTON -- Multiple sources tell ABC News President Donald Trump has narrowed his shortlist of Supreme Court nominees down to four contenders.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death Friday, just six weeks before Election Day, is expected to unleash a pitched battle over whether Trump should nominate -- and the Republican-led Senate should confirm -- her successor, or whether the seat should remain vacant until the outcome of Trump's race against Democrat Joe Biden is known.
Sources tell ABC News that Amy Coney Barrett is the leading contender. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit is a candidate the White House has explored in the past and a favorite of religious conservatives, a key sector of Trump's base.
Trump had previously named more than 40 people he promised to choose from to fill a potential vacancy on the Supreme Court. The names of his first two nominees, Justice Neil Gorsuch and Justice Brett Kavanaugh, appeared on the lists before their nominations. The most recent additions to Trump's list came earlier this month.
"@GOP We were put in this position of power and importance to make decisions for the people who so proudly elected us, the most important of which has long been considered to be the selection of United States Supreme Court Justices. We have this obligation, without delay!" the president tweeted Saturday.
ABC News has learned that Trump spoke with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Friday night, who vowed that the president's "nominee will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate."
Trump's shortlist:
From left to right: Amul Thapar, Amy Coney Barrett and Barbara Lagoa.
Amy Coney Barrett
Barrett is a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit. She's a graduate of Rhodes College and Notre Dame's law school and a former clerk to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.
Barbara Lagoa
Lagoa is a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. Before her appointment in 2019, Lagoa was a justice on the Florida Supreme Court. She is a graduate of Florida International University and Columbia Law School.
Allison Jones Rushing
Rushing is a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit. She clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and then-Judge Neil Gorsuch on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. She graduated from Wake Forest University and Duke University School of Law.
Amul Thapar
Thapar is a judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. Thapar, who is of South Asian descent, has also served as an assistant U.S. Attorney in Washington and in the Southern District.
Trump's full list:
Bridget Bade
Bade is a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. She is a graduate of Arizona State University and ASU's Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law.
Keith Blackwell
Blackwell is a justice of the Georgia Supreme Court. Blackwell previously served on the Georgia Court of Appeals and as deputy special attorney general in the state.
Daniel Cameron
Cameron is Kentucky's attorney general. He previously served as legal counsel to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Cameron is a graduate of the University of Louisville and its Brandeis School of Law.
Charles Canady
Canady a justice of the Florida Supreme Court. A former Florida congressman, he was the prime sponsor of the first congressional effort to ban the procedure abortion opponents call "partial-birth abortion." He also served as general counsel to former Florida governor and Trump rival Jeb Bush.
Paul Clement
Clement is a partner with Kirkland & Ellis, LLP. He previously served as U.S. solicitor general, arguing over 100 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. Clement was a clerk for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. He is a graduate of the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, Cambridge University and Harvard Law School.
Steven Colloton
Colloton is a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit. He graduated from Princeton University and Yale's law school. He was a law clerk for Supreme Court Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist.
Tom Cotton
Cotton is a U.S. senator from Arkansas. Before being elected in 2014, Cotton served in the U.S. House and in the Army. He earned his undergraduate and law degrees from Harvard.
Ted Cruz
Cruz is a U.S. senator from Texas and was previously Texas' solicitor general. He was a law clerk for Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist. Cruz is a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School. He has said he's not interested in becoming a justice.
Stuart Kyle Duncan
Duncan is a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit and formerly general counsel of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. He is a graduate of Louisiana State University, LSU's Paul M. Hebert Law Center and Columbia University Law School.
Allison Eid
Eid is a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit. She graduated from Stanford and the University of Chicago's law school and was a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
Steven Engel
Engel is the assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Counsel of the U.S. Department of Justice. Engel clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy. He is a graduate of Harvard College, Cambridge University and Yale Law School.
Noel Francisco
Francisco is the former U.S. solicitor general. Before his appointment in 2017, Francisco was in private practice and served in the Office of Legal Counsel as deputy assistant attorney general and as associate counsel to Trump. Francisco clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. He is a graduate of the University of Chicago and its law school.
Britt Grant
Grant is a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit and formerly a justice on the Supreme Court of Georgia. She graduated from Wake Forest University and attended law school at Stanford.
Raymond Gruender
Gruender is a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit. He has undergraduate, business and law degrees from Washington University in St. Louis.
Thomas Hardiman
Hardiman is a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame and Georgetown's law school.
Josh Hawley
Hawley is a U.S. senator from Missouri and previously Missouri's attorney general, a professor at the University of Missouri School of Law, and an attorney with the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. Hawley was a clerk for Chief Justice John Roberts. He is a graduate of Stanford University and Yale Law School. Hawley has said he doesn't have any interest in becoming a justice.
James Ho
Ho is a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit. Before his appointment in 2018, Ho was in private practice and had served Texas as solicitor general. Ho clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. He graduated from Stanford and the University of Chicago Law School.
Gregory Katsas
Katsas is a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Prior to his 2017 appointment he served as deputy assistant to the president and deputy counsel to the president. Katsas served as a law clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas. He is a graduate of Princeton and Harvard Law School.
Raymond Kethledge
Kethledge is a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit. He went to law school at the University of Michigan. He was a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy.
Christopher Landau
Landau is the U.S. ambassador to Mexico. He was a clerk for Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Antonin Scalia. Landau is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School.
Joan Larsen
Larsen is a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit. She graduated from the University of Northern Iowa and Northwestern University School of Law and was a law clerk to Justice Antonin Scalia.
Mike Lee
Lee is a U.S. senator from Utah. He graduated from Brigham Young University and attended its law school. He served as a law clerk to Justice Samuel Alito.
Thomas Lee
Lee serves on the Supreme Court of Utah. He graduated from Brigham Young University and attended law school at the University of Chicago. He was a law clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas.
Edward Mansfield
Mansfield is a justice of the Iowa Supreme Court. He previously served as a judge on the Iowa Court of Appeals.
Federico Moreno
Moreno is a federal judge in Florida. He graduated from the University of Miami School of Law.
Carlos Muñiz
Muñiz is a justice on the Florida Supreme Court. Prior to his appointment in 2019, Muñiz served as general counsel to the U.S. Department of Education and in various positions in the Florida state government. Muñiz is a graduate of the University of Virginia and Yale Law School.
Kevin Newsom
Newsom is a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. He's a graduate of Harvard's law school and a former law clerk to Supreme Court Justice David Souter.
Martha Pacold
Pacold is a federal judge in Illinois and former deputy general counsel at the Treasury Department. A graduate of Indiana University and the University of Chicago Law School, she clerked for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
Peter Phipps
Phipps is a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit. He graduated from the University of Dayton and Stanford Law School.
Sarah Pitlyk
Pitlyk is federal judge in Missouri and former special counsel at the Thomas More Society. She clerked for then-Judge Brett Kavanaugh of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. She graduated from Boston College, Georgetown University and the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium; and Yale Law School.
William Pryor
Pryor is a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. He went to law school at Tulane.
Margaret Ryan
Ryan was a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces and previously served in the Marine Corps. A graduate of Notre Dame's law school, she is a former clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas.
David Stras
Stras is a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit. He went to law school at the University of Kansas and was a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
Diane Sykes
Sykes is a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit. She's a graduate of Northwestern University and Marquette University Law School.
Kate Todd
Todd is deputy counsel to President Donald Trump and formerly served as chief counsel of the United States Chamber Litigation Center. Todd clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. She graduated from Cornell University and Harvard Law School.
Timothy Tymkovich
Tymkovich is chief judge of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. He formerly served as Solicitor General in Colorado, where he argued several cases in front of the Supreme Court. Among them: Colorado's failed bid to preclude the state from providing legal protections for gays and lesbians.
Lawrence VanDyke
VanDyke is a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. He graduated from Montana State University, Bear Valley Bible Institute and Harvard Law School.
Don Willett
Willett is a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit and formerly a justice on the Supreme Court of Texas. He went to law school at Duke.
Patrick Wyrick
Wyrick is a judge on the Supreme Court of Oklahoma.
Robert Young
Young is a former chief justice of the Michigan Supreme Court. He also served as a judge on the Michigan Court of Appeals.
