Exclusive: Top Trump Allies Preparing For Supreme Court Vacancy [View all]

(Time) White House officials and a close circle of conservative lawyers are preparing for President Donald Trump to be able to hit the ground running if a Supreme Court vacancy opens up during the remaining three and a half years of his second term, according to sources inside and outside the White House.

The discussions are in early stages and focus on finding a nominee in the mold of Samuel Alito, 75, and Clarence Thomas, 77, the two oldest justices, both of whom are considered stalwart conservative jurists who have taken narrow interpretations of the Constitutional text while backing an expansive view of Presidential power. Shortlists of judges are circulating among Trump allies as they debate who can be best trusted to stick with the Court's conservative wing during an appointment that could last decades.

“We are looking for people in the mold of Alito, Clarence Thomas and the late Scalia,” said a White House official familiar with the process, referring to Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in 2016. The official said it was “premature” to say the White House was getting ready for a vacancy.

Republicans currently control the Senate, which must confirm any nominee to the court. The party also controlled the Senate throughout Trump’s first term, allowing Trump to appoint three Justices—Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett— who were all well-regarded in conservative legal circles.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/exclusive-inside-planning-trumps-next-214215740.html