2020 presidential candidates on the Supreme Court vacancy
From Ballotpedia
This page includes statements from the 2020 presidential candidates on the Supreme Court vacancy created by the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on September 18, 2020. These statements were compiled from each candidate's official campaign website, editorials, speeches, and interviews.
The candidates featured on this page are the 2020 presidential nominees from the Democratic, Republican, Libertarian, and Green parties.
Donald Trump
Joe Biden
Howie Hawkins
Jo Jorgensen
Supreme Court vacancy
Joe Biden
- See also: Joe Biden presidential campaign, 2020
Statements
- September 20, 2020: Biden said during a speech in Philadelphia, "This appointment isn't about the past. It's about the future, and the people of this nation. And the people of this nation are choosing their future right now, as they vote. To jam this nomination through the Senate is just an exercise in raw political power. And I don't believe the people of this nation will stand for it. President Trump has already made it clear. This is about power. Pure and simple. Power."[1]
- September 19, 2020: Biden said in a statement, "Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg stood for all of us — she fought for all of us. We’re a better nation for it. Our country made enormous progress with her legal opinions, and her dissent has left an impact on generations of Americans to come. It was her wish that she not be replaced until a new President is installed. The voters should pick a President, and that President should select a successor."[2]
Potential nominees
As of March 2025, Biden had not released a list of potential Supreme Court nominees.
Howie Hawkins
Statements
As of March 2025, Hawkins had not made a statement about the Supreme Court vacancy.
Potential nominees
As of March 2025, Hawkins had not released a list of potential Supreme Court nominees.
Jo Jorgensen
- See also: Jo Jorgensen presidential campaign, 2020
Statements
- September 23, 2020: Jorgensen released a list of 18 potential Supreme Court nominees. She said, "We need justices who, unlike the majority of those appointed to our highest court over the past 100 years, will strictly uphold our Constitution. We must restore the limits that our Founders imposed on federal authority and rigorously defend both individual liberty and property rights."[3]
- September 19, 2020: Jorgensen tweeted about the Supreme Court vacancy, "I'm not going to comment on that until Justice Ginsburg's family has had a chance to mourn and lay her to rest."[4]
Potential nominees
On September 23, 2020, Jorgensen released the following list of potential nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court:[3]
- Richard Epstein, New York University
- Andrew Napolitano, former New Jersey Superior Court judge
- Randy Barnett, Georgetown University Law Center
- Clint Bolick, Arizona Supreme Court
- Eugene Volokh, UCLA
- Janice Rogers Brown, former District Court for the D.C. Circuit judge
- Dana Berliner, Institute for Justice
- Anastasia Boden, Pacific Legal Foundation
- Timothy Sandefur, Goldwater Institute
- Scott Bullock, Institute for Justice
- James Ostrowski, attorney
- Alan Gura, attorney
- Jonathan Turley, George Washington University Law School
- Damien Schiff, Pacific Law Foundation
- Clark Neily, Cato Institute
- Nadine Strossen, New York Law School
- Jacob Hornberger, Future of Freedom Foundation
- Don Willett, Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
Donald Trump
- See also: Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2020
Statements
- September 26, 2020: Trump announced Amy Coney Barrett as his nominee to the Supreme Court. He said in a statement, “She is a woman of unparalleled achievement, towering intellect, sterling credentials and unyielding loyalty to the Constitution."[5]
- September 21, 2020: In an interview on Fox & Friends, Trump said he would announce his nominee on September 25 or September 26. He said, "I think the vote, the final vote, should be taken, frankly, before the election. We have plenty of time for that."[6][7]
- September 19, 2020:
- Trump said of his potential Supreme Court nominee, "It will be a woman, a very talented, very brilliant woman. I haven't chosen yet, but we have numerous women on the list."[8]
- Trump tweeted, "We were put in this position of power and importance to make decisions for the people who so proudly elected us, the most important of which has long been considered to be the selection of United States Supreme Court Justices. We have this obligation, without delay!"[9]
Potential nominees
The following 46 potential nominees were designated by President Trump on lists released in 2016, 2017, and 2020.
| 2020 Potential Supreme Court nominees | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Current Position | Year Nominated | Nominated By | Undergraduate institution | Law school | |
| Bridget Bade | United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit | 2018 | Donald Trump (R) | Arizona State University | Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law at Arizona State University | |
| Amy Coney Barrett | United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit | 2017 | Donald Trump (R) | Rhodes College | Notre Dame Law School | |
| Keith Blackwell | Georgia Supreme Court | 2012 | Gov. Nathan Deal (R) | University of Georgia | University of Georgia School of Law | |
| Daniel Cameron (R) | Attorney General of Kentucky | - | - | University of Louisville | University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law | |
| Charles Canady | Florida Supreme Court | 2008 | Gov. Charlie Crist (R) | Haverford College | Yale Law School | |
| Steven Colloton | United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit | 2003 | George W. Bush (R) | Princeton University | Yale Law School | |
| Paul Clement | Partner with Kirkland & Ellis, LLP | - | - | Georgetown University School of Foreign Service | Harvard Law School | |
| Tom Cotton (R) | United States Senator from Arkansas | - | - | Harvard College | Harvard Law School | |
| Ted Cruz (R) | United States Senator from Texas | - | - | Princeton University | Harvard Law School | |
| Stuart Kyle Duncan | United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit | 2017 | Donald Trump (R) | Louisiana State University | LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center, Columbia University Law School | |
| Allison Eid | United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit | 2017 | Donald Trump (R) | Stanford University | University of Chicago Law School | |
| Steven Engel | Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel of the U.S. Department of Justice | - | - | Harvard College | Yale Law School | |
| Noel Francisco | Former United States Solicitor General | - | - | University of Chicago | University of Chicago Law School | |
| Britt Grant | Georgia Supreme Court | 2016 | Gov. Nathan Deal (R) | Wake Forest University | Stanford Law School | |
| Neil Gorsuch | United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit | 2006 | George W. Bush (R) | Columbia University | Harvard Law School | |
| Raymond Gruender | United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit | 2004 | George W. Bush (R) | Washington University of St. Louis | Washington University of St. Louis | |
| Thomas Hardiman | United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit | 2007 | George W. Bush (R) | University of Notre Dame | Georgetown University Law Center | |
| Josh Hawley (R) | United States Senator from Missouri | - | - | Stanford University | Yale Law School | |
| James Ho | United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit | 2017 | Donald Trump (R) | Stanford University | University of Chicago Law School | |
| Greg Katsas | United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit | 2017 | Donald Trump (R) | Princeton University | Harvard Law School | |
| Brett Kavanaugh | United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit | 2006 | George W. Bush (R) | Yale College | Yale Law School | |
| Raymond Kethledge | United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit | 2008 | George W. Bush (R) | University of Michigan | University of Michigan Law School | |
| Barbara Lagoa | United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit | 2019 | Donald Trump (R) | Florida International University | Columbia Law School | |
| Christopher Landau | United States Ambassador to Mexico | - | - | Harvard College | Harvard Law School | |
| Joan Larsen | United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit | 2017 | Donald Trump (R) | University of Northern Iowa | Northwestern University School of Law | |
| Mike Lee (R) | United States Senator from Utah | - | - | Brigham Young University | Brigham Young University School of Law | |
| Thomas Lee | Utah Supreme Court | 2010 | Gov. Gary Herbert (R) | Brigham Young University | University of Chicago Law School | |
| Edward Mansfield | Iowa Supreme Court | 2011 | Gov. Terry Branstad (R) | Harvard University | Yale Law School | |
| Federico Moreno | United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida | 1990 | George H.W. Bush (R) | University of Notre Dame | University of Miami School of Law | |
| Carlos Muñiz | Florida Supreme Court | 2019 | Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) | University of Virginia | Yale Law School | |
| Kevin Newsom | United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit | 2017 | Donald Trump (R) | Samford University | Harvard Law School | |
| Martha Pacold | United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois | 2018 | Donald Trump (R) | Indiana University | University of Chicago Law School | |
| Peter Phipps | United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit | 2019 | Donald Trump (R) | University of Dayton | Stanford Law School | |
| Sarah Pitlyk | United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri | 2019 | Donald Trump (R) | Boston College | Yale Law School | |
| William Pryor | United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit | 2004 | George W. Bush (R) | Northeast Louisiana University | Tulane University Law School | |
| Allison Jones Rushing | United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit | 2018 | Donald Trump (R) | Wake Forest University | Duke University School of Law | |
| Margaret Ryan | United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces | 2006 | George W. Bush (R) | Knox College | Notre Dame Law School | |
| David Stras | United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit | 2017 | Donald Trump (R) | University of Kansas | University of Kansas School of Law | |
| Diane Sykes | United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit | 2004 | George W. Bush (R) | Northwestern University | Marquette University Law School | |
| Amul Thapar | United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit | 2017 | Donald Trump (R) | Boston College | University of California at Berkeley School of Law | |
| Kate Comerford Todd | Deputy White House Counsel | - | - | Cornell University | Harvard Law School | |
| Timothy Tymkovich | United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit | 2003 | George W. Bush (R) | Colorado College | University of Colorado Law School | |
| Lawrence VanDyke | United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit | 2019 | Donald Trump (R) | Montana State University, Bear Valley Bible Institute | Harvard Law School | |
| Don Willett | United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit | 2017 | Donald Trump (R) | Baylor University | Duke University School of Law | |
| Patrick Wyrick | Oklahoma Supreme Court | 2017 | Gov. Mary Fallin (R) | University of Oklahoma | University of Oklahoma College of Law | |
| Robert Young | Michigan Supreme Court (retired) | 1999 | Gov. John Engler (R) | Harvard University | Harvard Law School | |
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Footnotes
- ↑ ABC News, "Ginsburg vacancy until after election: ‘Don’t go there,'" September 20, 2020
- ↑ Facebook, "Joe Biden," September 19, 2020
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Jorgensen 2020, "Jorgensen issues list of potential U.S. Supreme Court picks," September 23, 2020
- ↑ Twitter, "Jo Jorgensen," September 19, 2020
- ↑ The New York Times, "Trump Announces Barrett as Supreme Court Nominee, Describing Her as Heir to Scalia," September 26, 2020
- ↑ Fox News, "Trump says Supreme Court list is down to 5 people, announcement coming Friday or Saturday," September 21, 2020
- ↑ The Hill, "Trump: Senate should vote on Supreme Court nominee before Election Day," September 21, 2020
- ↑ CNN, "Trump vows to appoint a woman to Supreme Court as vacancy re-energizes his political prospects," September 20, 2020
- ↑ Twitter, "Donald J. Trump," September 19, 2020
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