President Trump is in the early stages of recruiting a Supreme Court nominee, just in case a slot opens up during his second term, according to TIME magazine.
Trump appointed three of the current justices during his first term, shifting the balance of the court rightwards.
The conservative majority has handed Trump some major victories in recent weeks, exasperating his critics, including the members of the outnumbered liberal wing on the court.
A White House official told TIME that the administration wants candidates “in the mold of” Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and the late Antonin Scalia.
Thomas and Alito are the staunchest conservatives on the court, and also the oldest members serving: Thomas is 77, and Alito is 75.
By contrast, Trump’s own appointees, particularly Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, have proven to be surprisingly moderate, earning them praise from the left-wing media.
According to Time, conservative lawyers who are advising Trump are “burned by a handful of recent decisions in which Barrett joined liberal members of the court and want to ensure the next nominee is someone who won’t veer from the conservative bloc.”
Supreme Court retirements have become political footballs in a deeply polarized America, as reflected in the bare-knuckled fight over Kavanaugh’s nomination during Trump’s first term and the rapid confirmation of Barrett, who was approved by Senate Republicans just days before the 2020 election.
The oldest liberal on the bench, Sonia Sotomayor, faced retirement pressure last year as leftists feared the possibility of Trump naming her replacement. Democrats have been haunted by Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death in 2020, which enabled Trump to choose Barrett as a successor for the liberal icon.
Replacing Thomas or Alito with conservatives cut from the same cloth would not shift the ideological balance of the court, but it would help solidify Trump’s influence for years to come.
The shortlist for Trump's next pick includes several Trump appointees on the federal courts, including Andrew Oldham and James Ho, who sit on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, Neomi Rao, of the D.C. Circuit, and Amal Thapar, of the Sixth Circuit. Oldham clerked for Alito in the past, and Rao was a clerk for Thomas.
If a vacancy opens before the 2026 midterm elections, Trump could expect the Senate's narrow Republican majority to confirm his choice.
Republicans in the Senate have long prioritized court appointments, even during Trump's first term, when they were often less than cooperative about advancing his agenda. The Senate GOP is more pliable when it comes to meeting Trump’s demands, these days.
The GOP showed deference to Trump again this week by confirming his former defense lawyer, Emil Bove, to be an appellate judge, over the objections of Democrats who said he was not fit for the role.
