Trump to announce US Supreme Court pick on July 9

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US President Donald Trump said on Friday he plans to announce his nominee to replace retiring US Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy on July 9, and that he has narrowed his list of candidates.

"I've got it down to about five," Trump said, including two women.

He would not identify the candidates by name. "It's a great group of intellectual talent ... they are generally conservative," Trump said.

President Donald Trump speaks before Justice Anthony Kennedy (R) administers the oath of office to Neil Gorsuch (C) as an associate justice of the US Supreme Court in the Rose Garden of the White House, April 10, 2017, in Washington, DC. /VCG Photo

When asked about several specific potential nominees mentioned in recent days, including federal jurists Brett M. Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, and US Senator Mike Lee from Utah, Trump said each was "outstanding."

Trump said he not will push the candidates to say whether they would overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which established a woman's right to abortion.

"That's not a question I'll be asking," he said.

He also said he would not discuss gay rights with the candidates, and that he might interview as many as seven people.

Supporters of women's rights protest outside the US Supreme Court as the court issues a ruling on a California law related to abortion issues, June 26, 2018, in Washington, DC. /VCG Photo

While Kennedy was a conservative, he proved to be a somewhat unpredictable "swing" vote over his long career.

For example, he sided with the court's liberals by voting in favor of abortion rights and gay rights in key cases. Views on abortion were expected to be one that senators will ask the new nominee about in confirmation hearings, even if the president does not.

Trump's nominee must win confirmation by the Senate.

Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy arrives for US President Donald Trump's address to a Joint Session of Congress in Washington, February 28, 2017. /VCG Photo

Republicans control the chamber but only by a slim majority, making the views of moderates, including some Democrats, important.

Trump met on Thursday with senators from both parties at the White House to discuss the court vacancy created by the retirement of Kennedy, which was announced on Wednesday.

Kennedy's replacement could cast a deciding vote on limiting or ending the right to abortion.

(Cover: Justices of the US Supreme Court sit for their official group photo at the Supreme Court, June 1, 2017, in Washington, DC. /VCG Photo)

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Source(s): Reuters