Trump meets with Supreme Court contenders

President Donald Trump has interviewed four possible Supreme Court justices and plans to meet with a few more, the White House confirmed. The Washington Post reported that the president met Monday with federal appellate Judges Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh, Raymond Kethledge, and Amul R. Thapar.

Barrett was confirmed to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last year after a hearing in which Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., argued Barrett’s Catholic beliefs could disqualify her. “When you read your speeches, the conclusion one draws is that the dogma lives loudly within you, and that’s of concern,” Feinstein told Barrett. The Senate later confirmed her by a vote of 55-43. Kavanaugh serves on the District of Columbia Circuit, worked as a lawyer for special counsel Kenneth Starr on the impeachment investigation of President Bill Clinton and on the recount team for George W. Bush during the 2000 presidential election, and clerked for retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy. Kethledge, who serves on the 6th Circuit, was on the short list of nominees when Trump selected Justice Neil Gorsuch last year. He also clerked for Kennedy. Thapar, the son of Indian-American immigrants, is a Trump nominee from Kentucky serving on the 6th Circuit and is a close associate of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. The president says he plans to announce his choice Monday.