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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, the pinball president 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 the President George W. Bush's white house would be a problem for his main supporters, whose thousands filled the Four Seasons Arena in Great Falls, Mt., Thursday night. 659004] And Trump hears arguments for Kethledge, another former Kennedy employee, and for Coney Barrett, a professor at the University of Notre Dame Law School who is defended by some social conservatives, according to counselors, who requested anonymity because they were not Kavanaugh and Kethledge have the "inner lane", according to a person close to the president, because some White House officials believe that Coney Barrett, 46, could be rather a choice for the high court in the coming days.
A second person close to the president said Thursday that Kavanaugh and Kethledge were shortlisted.
Vice President Pence met privately in Kavanaugh Wednesday at the residence of the Vice President. this session went well, highlighting the judge's strong prospects, according to two Republicans informed of the meeting.
"I think I reduced it to four people, one d I think of the four people, I have three or two, I think they're all outstanding," 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 shortlist a few days ago – federal judges Thomas M. Hardiman, Amul R. Thapar and Joan L. Larsen, as well as Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) – remain in the running, but the president 's questions have mostly focused on the main contenders, whether it is during phone calls, at meetings of the Oval Office or Air Force One.
A Trump advisor said the president should not expand his list in the coming days, but could follow by phone with some of the candidates, all of whom have been asked to complete disclosure forms about their finances and their conduct .
Trump told reporters that he was not expecting to bring candidates for interviews again when he headed to his New Jersey golf club this weekend . "I do not doubt it," he said.
The Trump process echoes his search for a Supreme Court justice last year – he finally appointed Judge Neil M. Gorsuch – and his review of a candidate for the vice-presidency. Even though White House lawyer Donald McGahn was fiercely keeping information about Trump's candidate interviews and tendencies, the president was engaging in the loop of boosters, legislators and confidants he had long been dreamed for inopportune political controls
"Trump asked about Kethledge, the advisers said.Or, on Kavanaugh's link to the Bush network, with which Trump has clashed for years, the president has Asked categorically, "What do you think?"
Other close friends of Trump said that various factors were on the radar of the president.The interpretation of the law by the candidates, such as their educational profiles , his personal background and his relationship with him in interviews – leaving most Trump allies wary of making predictions.
"He listens to everyone, big or small, influential or not. Said Trump's friend and Newsmax's general manager, Christopher Ruddy. "The resignation Thursday of Scott Pruitt, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, after months of scrutiny on issues of ethics has added some uncertainty Trump's decision for supreme court decision As White House officials treated Pruitt's release, some Trump allies were wondering if the president could announce his choice before Monday to prevent Pruitt from making headlines. 19659012] Trump, however, maintains Thursday that Monday remains his chosen date for an announcement. "We'll do it at 9 pm. Debates on Kavanaugh's work with Bush and the decisions he made on health care and abortion continued to beat Thursday as critics urged the president to flee a judge with a Republican pedigree of the establishment.
Kavanaugh, 53, helped to investigate President Bill Clinton as a member of Kenneth W. Starr's team, then served as Bush's assistant before joining the Court of Appeal of the DC Circuit in 2006.
"said former Attorney General of Virginia Ken Cuccinelli II, referring to the Chief Justice of the United States, who has angered the Conservatives with his decisions regarding the President Barack Obama's health care law. "The Bush lives noisily in Kavanaugh."
Cuccinelli's remark was an ironic allusion to another candidate, Coney Barrett, whom Kavanaugh's uncertain social conservatives rallied behind this week
"Dogma lives loudly in you". Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) Told Coney Barrett last year at his confirmation hearing in an exchange on the judge's Catholic faith – a comment that was strongly criticized by religious leaders
" If the Democrats were trying to be anti-Catholic, "said Representative Peter T. King (RN.Y.).
But Trump does not rush to Coney Barrett with the same fervor, according to two close people of the President. "They described her 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 mandate was celebrated by his supporters and whose records are widely acceptable Most of the wings of the Republican Party
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), An ally of Trump, has signed a statement Thursday with other conservative leaders for Lee, after Thursdays rs of phone calls with Trump and others about his concerns about Kavanaugh. This decision complicated the prospects in the Senate, where Republicans have a narrow majority of 51 seats
The sudden rise of Kethledge in the process is widely visible in the West Wing as a result of Rush Limbaugh, facilitator conservative radio, called. the "murmur" campaign against Kavanaugh, with the president newly intrigued by the graduate of the law faculty of the University of Michigan
Democrats, meanwhile, prepared for the political war on the high court that could Dominate the summer Schumer (DN.Y.) making his own suggestion for Trump.
Schumer deprived the president in a phone call earlier this week to name federal judge Merrick B. Garland, who was Obama's third candidate for the Supreme Court and was summarily shunned by Senate Republicans in 2016.
Trump called Schumer Tuesday afternoon for a Supreme Court-centered conversation that lasted less than five minutes, according to a familiar person wi the appeal. Schumer, said the person, urged the president to appoint Garland to succeed Kennedy, arguing that it would help to unite the country.
Schumer also warned the president to appoint a jurist who would be hostile to Roe v. Wade The landmark decision of 1973 that establishes the right to abortion for a woman and the Obama Health Care Act would be "cataclysmic" and damage the legacy of Trump, added the person, who was not allowed to speak publicly and ask for anonymity. 19659031] 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 review campaign allowed Kethledge's supporters to hope that his chances were perhaps going to increase – and a glimpse of the political storm he would face on Capitol Hill.
Josh Dawsey contributed to this report.
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