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Trump Makes Ominous Prediction About '2 Or 3' Supreme Court Justices
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President Donald Trump made a prediction in an interview broadcast Wednesday about the potential for him to nominate more justices to the Supreme Court, should seats become vacant during his tenure. “So you don’t know if you’re going to be putting another nomination forward,” Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo stated. “I don’t know. It’s possible, you know. In theory, it’s two or three, they tell me,” Trump said. “If you just read statistics, it could be two, could be three, could be one. I don’t know.” Trump says he is prepared to nominate 2 or 3 more Supreme Court justices pic.twitter.com/a0YyxiwZHQ Trump’s nominees from his first term already make up three of the nine justices on the Supreme Court, the most of any president in the 21st century. As the midterm elections draw nearer, rumors have swirled about the possible retirement of Justice Samuel Alito while Republicans are still in control of the Senate, to ensure a conservative fills the vacancy. If the GOP were to lose control of the Senate in November, it’s unlikely Trump would be able to seat another justice after that. As of now, Alito, 76, has not directly spoken publicly about plans to retire, and having Trump replace him would not give conservatives a larger majority. However, it would lock in a younger conservative for that seat, likely for decades to come. Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) told reporters on Capitol Hill Tuesday that current Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah) or Ted Cruz (R-Texas) could potentially be tapped for the seat should Alito decide to retire. “I hope he doesn’t retire,” Grassley said. “But if he does retire, I’m going to suggest that either Lee or Cruz be put on the Supreme Court.” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D) told the Washington Examiner on Tuesday that Republicans are “prepared” to confirm a nomination should Alito resign. “That’s a contingency I think around here you always have to be prepared for,” Thune told the outlet. “And if that were to happen, yes, we would be prepared to confirm.” Other justices around the same age as Alito include Justice Sonia Sotomayor, 71, Chief Justice John Roberts, 71, and Justice Clarence Thomas, 77, but there has been no talk of impending retirement for them. By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you're agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
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