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President Trump's deliberations on a Supreme Court candidate are now focused on three shortlisted candidates: federal judges Brett M. Kavanaugh, Raymond Kethledge and Amy Coney Barrett, according to White House officials and Trump advisors involved in the discussions. But Trump's final decision on replacing Judge Anthony M. Kennedy remained fluid as he traveled Thursday to a political rally in Montana before heading to his golf course in New Jersey for the weekend. end, with the president pinball between his associates. While Trump placed Kavanaugh, a former Kennedy employee and a graduate of Yale Law School, near the top of his list, he also asked several friends and assistants if Kavanaugh's work in George W. Bush House's white would be a problem for its main supporters, including thousands filled the Four Seasons Arena in Great Falls, Montana on Thursday night. [19659004] And Trump hears arguments for Kethledge, another former Kennedy employee, and for Coney Barrett, a professor at Notre Dame Law School who is being defended by some social conservatives, according to counselors, who have asked for it. anonymity since they were not allowed to
Kavanaugh and Kethledge have the "internal way", according to a person close to the president, because many White House officials believe that Coney Barrett, 46 years, could be a choice for the high court in the coming years,
A second person close to the president said Thursday that Kavanaugh and Kethledge were shortlisted.
Vice President Pence met in private Kavanaugh Wednesday at the residence of the Vice President and this session. It's gone well, pointing to the judge's strong prospects, according to two Republicans informed of the meeting.
"I think I've reduced it to four people and I'm thinking of the four people, I have it to three or two.I think they're all outstanding," he said. Trump told reporters on Thursday en route to Montana, refusing to name the finalists. "I do not want to say all four, but I have reduced it to four, I will make a decision in my mind by Sunday, we will announce it on Monday."
D & # 39; others who emerged on Trump's short lists a few days ago – federal judges Thomas M. Hardiman, Amul R. Thapar and Joan L. Larsen and Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) – Staying in the running, but the president's questions mainly concerned the main contenders, whether it was during phone calls, at meetings of the Oval Office or Air Force One.
A Trump advisor said the president should not expand his list. the next few days, but could follow by phone with some of the candidates, all of whom have been asked to complete disclosure forms regarding their finances and conduct.
Trump told reporters that he was not planning any candidates for interviews again when he headed to his New Jersey golf club this weekend. I doubt it, he says.
Trump's process echoes both his search for a Supreme Court justice last year – he finally appointed Judge Neil M. Gorsuch – and his review of the case. a candidate for vice-presidency. Even though White House lawyer Donald McGahn fiercely keeps information about candidate interviews and Trump's tendencies, the president engages in the loop of boosters, lawmakers and confidants on which he has long counted for inopportune political controls
"Trump asked about Kethledge, the advisers said, or, on Kavanaugh's link to Bush's network with which Trump has clashed for years , the president categorically asked, "What do you think?"
Other relatives of Trump said that a series of factors were on the radar of the president's interpretation of the law, such as their educational profiles, their personal backgrounds and their relationship with him in the interviews – leaving most Trump allies wary of making predictions.
"He listens to everyone, big or small, influential or not, and it absorbs everything. He then adds to what he thinks and comes to a conclusion, "said Christopher Ruddy, CEO of Newsmax and Newsmax's director
. White House officials treated Pruitt's release as some of Trump's allies wondered if the president could announce his choice before Monday to prevent Pruitt from making headlines.
Trump, however, maintained Thursday that his date chosen for an announcement. "We are going to do it at 9 pm The debates on Kavanugh's work with Bush and the decisions he made on health care and abortion continued Thursday to be heard as critics urged the president to avoid a judge with a Republican pedigree.
Kavanaugh, 53, helped to investigate President Bill Clinton as a member of Kenneth W. Starr's team, then served as an assistant of Bush before joining the US Circuit DC appeal court in 2006.
walkers and charlatans like John G. Roberts Jr., "the chief justice of the United States who angered the conservatives for his rulings on President Obama's health care law, said former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli. "The Bush lives noisily at Kavanaugh."
Cuccinelli's remark is a distorted allusion to another claimant that uncertain social conservatives about Kavanaugh rallied behind this week: Coney Barrett. "Dogma lives loudly in you," Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) Said last year at her confirmation hearing in an exchange on the judge's Catholic faith – a comment that was sharply criticized by religious leaders
. If the Democrats tried to be anti-Catholic with it, it would turn against us and we would know it, "said Rep. Peter T. King (RNY)
But Trump does not rush to Coney Barrett with the same fervor., according to the two close to the president.They have described his vision of her as "positive" since he named her, but noted that he sees Kavanaugh and Kethledge as similar to Gorsuch, another former Kennedy employee, whose tenure was celebrated by his supporters and whose records are largely acceptable.wings of the Republican Party.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), An ally of Trump, signed a statement Thursday with other conservative leaders in favor of Lee after several days of phone calls with Trump and others about his concerns about Kavanaugh, complicating the prospects in the Senate where Republicans have a narrow majority of 51 seats.
The sudden rise of Kethledge in the process is widely observed in the West Wing as a result of the fact that radio-conservative Rush Limbaugh called the "murmur campaign" against Kavanaugh, with the President Meanwhile, the Democrats were preparing for the political war against the High Court that could dominate the summer, the leader of the senatorial minority Charles E. Schumer (DN.Y.) making his own suggestion . for Trump
Schumer has deprived the president in a phone call earlier this week to name federal judge Merrick B. Garland, the third Obama nominee to the Supreme Court who was summarily shunned by the Senate's Re publicails in 2016.
Trump called Schumer Tuesday afternoon for a Supreme Court-centered conversation that lasted less than five minutes, according to a person familiar with the call. Schumer, the person said, urged the president to appoint Garland to succeed Kennedy, arguing that it would help to unite the country.
Schumer also warned the president by appointing a lawyer who would be hostile to Roe v. Wade the landmark decision of 1973 that established the right to abortion for a woman and the Obama Health Act would be "cataclysmic" and would damage Trump's legacy, added the person, asking for anonymity since they were not allowed to speak publicly. 19659030] During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump pledged to appoint judges who would overthrow Roe v. Wade .
Schumer also tweeted beards about Kethledge on Thursday. "Justice Kethledge has always fought against the freedom of procreation of women," he wrote
. The Scramble gave hope to Kethledge's followers that his chances were perhaps going to increase – and a political foretaste of Capitol Hill. to be named.
Josh Dawsey in Washington contributed to this report.
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