Trump includes 3 Republican senators on list of potential Supreme Court picks
WASHINGTON (SBG) — President Donald Trump included three Republican senators in his list of potential Supreme Court nominees released on Wednesday.
Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas, Josh Hawley of Missouri and Tom Cotton of Arkansas were among the 20 people the president promised to choose from should a vacancy on the Supreme Court open.
Hawley said in a statement he has no interest in the nation’s highest court and would continue his career in the U.S. Senate.
“I appreciate the President’s confidence in listing me as a potential Supreme Court nominee,” Hawley said in a tweet. “But as I told the President, Missourians elected me to fight for them in the Senate, and I have no interest in the high court. I look forward to confirming constitutional conservatives.”
Cruz also released a statement that mentioned continuing his work in the Senate and confirming conservative judges.
“As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I've been proud to help confirm to the bench over 200 of President Trump's judicial nominees, including two to the Supreme Court,” Cruz said in a statement. “It's humbling and an immense honor to be considered for the Supreme Court. The High Court plays a unique role in defending our Constitution, and there is no greater responsibility in public service than to support and defend the Constitution of the United States.
“In the Senate, I have been blessed to lead the fight to preserve our constitutional liberties--every day, to defend the rights of 29 million Texans--and I look forward to continuing to do so for many years to come."
Cotton didn’t outright say if he would be interested in becoming a Supreme Court justice but said he “will always heed the call of service to our nation.”
“The Supreme Court could use some more justices who understand the difference between applying the law and making the law, which the Court does when it invents a right to an abortion, infringes on religious freedom, and erodes the Second Amendment,” his statement says.
The White House has confirmed two new Supreme Court justices under Trump, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.
In announcing his pool of nominees, Trump contrasted his list to the one Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden would choose from.
“Radical justices will erase the Second Amendment, silence political speech, and require taxpayers to fund extreme late-term abortion,” Trump said Wednesday. “They will give unelected bureaucrats that power to destroy millions of American jobs. They will remove the words ‘under God’ from the Pledge of Allegiance. They will unilaterally declare the death penalty unconstitutional, even for the most depraved mass murderers. They will erase national borders, cripple police departments, and grant new protections to anarchists, rioters, violent criminals, and terrorists.”
Biden has promised to nominate a Black woman to the high court if he is elected. His campaign has not released a list of names yet.
Trump challenged Biden to release his list and his nominees wouldn’t be able to withstand public scrutiny because they are “so extremely far left.”
