President Donald Trump has announced he is adding 20 names to the list of Supreme Court candidates that he’s pledged to choose from if he has future vacancies to fill, as he hopes.
The release is aimed at replicating a strategy Trump employed during his 2016 campaign, when he released a similar list of could-be judges in a bid to win over conservative and evangelical voters who had doubts about his conservative bona fides.
The high court is currently divided 5-4 between conservatives and liberals.
Any vacancy in the highest court would give the president the ability to shape its future for decades to come if he is re-elected in November.
In remarks at the White House, Trump called appointing justices to the Supreme Court "the most important decision an American president can make." Trump said that if he wins a second term, he could possibly be called upon to name up to four justices.
"For this reason, candidates for president owe the American people a specific list of individuals they consider for the United States Supreme Court," he said.
The president's list includes three sitting U.S. senators, 10 federal judges and several current administration officials:
Judge Bridget Bade, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
Daniel Cameron, Kentucky attorney general
Paul Clement, former solicitor general
Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas
Senator Ted Cruz of Texas
Judge Kyle Duncan, 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
Steven Engel, assistant attorney general at the Justice Department
Noel Francisco, former solicitor general under the Trump administration
Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri
Judge James Ho, 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
Judge Greg Katsas, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
Judge Barbara Lagoa, 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
Christopher Landau, U.S. ambassador to Mexico
Justice Carlos Muniz, Florida Supreme Court
Judge Martha Pacold, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
Judge Peter Phipps, 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
Judge Sarah Pitlyk, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri
Judge Allison Jones Rushing, 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
Kate Todd, deputy White House counsel
Judge Lawrence VanDyke, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
Trump derided Biden for not releasing his own list of Supreme Court nominees, claiming he hasn't done so because his candidates would be "so far left they could never withstand public scrutiny." The president called on Biden to make public his own slate of Supreme Court candidates.
Biden did not immediately respond to Trump's announcement. Biden previously promised to nominate a Black woman to the high court if given the chance. Biden has also said he’s working on a list of potential nominees.
Trump mentioned in June that he would roll out his list of potential justices after his administration's efforts to roll back the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program were blocked by the high court in a 5-4 decision.
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(The Associated Press, CBS News contributed to this report.)
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