President Trump Plans To Announce Supreme Court Pick On July 9
BEDMINSTER, N.J. (CBSNewYork/CBSNews) -- President Donald Trump plans to announce his pick to replace Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy on July 9.
Kennedy will retire on July 31, after more than 30 years on the court.
The president originally said he was considering a list of 25 candidates. Now, it's down to six or seven being interviewed.
CBS News has learned that the two leading contenders are D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Brett Kavanaugh and Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Amy Coney Barrett. Trump is also considering Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Amul Thapar, who could become the first Indian American to serve on the Supreme Court.
Aboard Air Force One on his way to his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, the president told reporters it would be inappropriate to discuss whether he was looking for a justice who is willing to overturn Roe. V. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court 1973 case that legalized abortion.
In an interview with Fox Business Network set to air Sunday, though, Trump said he "probably" would not ask candidates about how they would vote on the case.
Two other names that have been floated as front-runners are Third Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Thomas Hardiman, the runner-up to Neil Gorsuch in the president's first Supreme Court pick, and Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Raymond Kethledge.
(© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.)