President Donald Trump is taking a more hands-on approach over the judicial nomination process amid frustrations with the three Supreme Court justices he picked during his first term, reports the Washington Examiner.
Trump during his first time in office appointed three U.S. Supreme Court justices: Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. He has privately expressed frustration that they could do more to back his agenda, specifically Barrett, whose rulings have not been in line with how she presented herself in an interview before the president nominated her to the bench in 2020, according to Trump allies, reports CNN.
Trump, according to senior aides and sources familiar with the inner workings of his process on the judicial front, is “personally directing a streamlined, loyalty-first vetting process shaped by the lessons from his first term,” reports the Examiner.
That means more interviews with prospective nominees and thorough vetting of their backgrounds, as Trump wants to only nominate strict constitutionalists.
Former federal prosecutor Gene Rossi told Newsweek if one of the justices retire, Trump “will pick a very young and conservative nominee because, in his mind, he got burned with Justice Barrett. And he wants to put his further imprint on the tenor of the High Court.”
Barbara McQuade, a former federal prosecutor, said, “With frustration over some of the decisions by Justices Barrett and Roberts, there would be a push for justices who are not just conservative, but who are loyal to Trump himself.”
“They could make a significant difference in some of the cases that are percolating up from the lower courts on issues such as birthright citizenship, transgender healthcare and executive power,” she added.
A White House aide told the Examiner that the administration “learned a lot when we were taking a four-year break, and we’ve come into this administration now as a well-oiled machine that is relying on sound counsel from his White House Counsel, his DOJ and his most senior advisers here, where every single person advising the president on these judges is committed to the America First agenda, committed to making sure that these justices align or judges align with the priorities of what a constitutionalist judge would support, and that’s the priority.”
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