President-elect Trump's advisers are indicating he will likely stick to the shortlists released during the presidential campaign when given the chance to name a Supreme Court nominee.
Trump met with Leonard Leo, the executive vice president of the right-leaning Federalist Society, at Trump Tower on Wednesday and discussed the evaluation process for filling the vacancy created by Justice Antonin Scalia's death. Leo and top Trump aide Kellyanne Conway addressed reporters after the meeting, insisting Trump's list of 21 potential Court nominees has not changed.
"You've seen the list of 21. The list has not changed," Conway told reporters. "President-elect Trump has committed to choosing his Supreme Court justices, particularly the vacancy created by the untimely death of Justice Scalia ... from that list of 21."
Asked whether he had a preference for any on Trump's list, Leo said he did not, according to a pool report.
"[H]e can't pick 21, though he might want to," Leo told reporters. "I have no preferences and he certainly didn't indicate, but what I would say is that all of those individuals are people who care very deeply about the rule of law and about the preservation of our Constitution."
Leo continued: "I would say that he's looking for someone who is independent, courageous, smart, very high quality. Those are the kinds of things he said in the meeting. And I think the list evidences that, and I think he wants to move forward as swiftly as he can to make sure that the court's full nine-member bench is restored."
Trump's meeting with Leo comes one day before the Federalist Society's 2016 National Lawyers Convention in Washington, D.C. Nine of the individuals included on Trump's Supreme Court shortlists are scheduled to appear at the convention.