President Trump on Tuesday said he’d move to fill a Supreme Court vacancy in the last five months of his first term if a seat opens up and that he has an unnamed prospect in mind.
“Absolutely, I’d do it. Sure,” Mr. Trump told radio host Hugh Hewitt. “If you’re talking about if something would happen now, … I would move quickly. Why not? I mean, they would. The Democrats would if they were in this position.”
He said he has an “excellent” candidate in mind, but declined to say who it was.
Mr. Trump has said he plans to release another list of prospective Supreme Court nominees by September. He released a similar list during the 2016 campaign.
Senate Republicans have said they would likely move to fill a Supreme Court vacancy if one opens up before the end of the year.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said the situation is different compared to the last presidential election year, when a vacancy opened up after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February 2016.
Republicans did not hold hearings or a vote on Judge Merrick Garland, who President Barack Obama nominated to the high court in March 2016.
Mr. McConnell has said things are different now because the White House and Senate are controlled by the same party.
Sen. Joni Ernst, an Iowa Republican who is up for reelection this year, said recently that she would support moving forward with confirmation hearings in a lame-duck session even if Republicans lose control of the White House and U.S. Senate in November.
Mr. McConnell had said in 2016 that voters should get a chance to weigh in on who should fill the vacancy.
Mr. Trump ultimately nominated Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, who was confirmed in 2017.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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