President Trump wants YOU for SCOTUS — if you’re one of these four judges. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
President Donald Trump interviewed four federal appeals court judges today for the Supreme Court vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Anthony M. Kennedy. White House officials declined to name them, but based on multiple sources involved with the process, I can report that they are as follows:
- Judge Amy Coney Barrett (7th Cir.), 46, of Indiana
- Judge Brett Kavanaugh (D.C. Cir.), 53, of Maryland
- Judge Raymond Kethledge (6th Cir.), 51, of Michigan
- Judge Amul Thapar (6th Cir.), 49, of Kentucky
I will have additional analysis soon, but for now, I will direct you to my earlier post identifying Judge Kavanaugh and Judge Kethledge as the frontrunners. That is accurate — although I would just add that Judge Thapar remains very much in the running.
More to come. Congratulations and good luck to all four finalists.
UPDATE (9:40 p.m.): The names have been reported by the Washington Post and the New York Times (although neither outlet mentioned Above the Law).
UPDATE (10:41 p.m.): Thanks to Michael Shear and Maggie Haberman of the New York Times for graciously updating their story to credit Above the Law.
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UPDATE (11:28 p.m.): In fairness to the Post, they reported it independently — they cite “three people briefed on the meetings who spoke on the condition of anonymity” — even if they reported it later than we did.
UPDATE (7/3/2018, 10:15 a.m.): Additional analysis appears in this story, The Supreme Court Sweepstakes: The Latest State Of Play — And The Case For Judge Kavanaugh.
Earlier: America’s Next Top Justice: Judge Brett Kavanaugh, Or Judge Raymond Kethledge?
Trump Interviews Four Supreme Court Candidates [New York Times]
David Lat is editor at large and founding editor of Above the Law, as well as the author of Supreme Ambitions: A Novel. He previously worked as a federal prosecutor in Newark, New Jersey; a litigation associate at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz; and a law clerk to Judge Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. You can connect with David on Twitter (@DavidLat), LinkedIn, and Facebook, and you can reach him by email at [email protected].