On Monday, White House candidate Vivek Ramaswamy announced a list of candidates he would nominate to the Supreme Court if he were elected.
“President Biden’s focus on judicial appointments appeared to be on diversity of race & gender. While I drew from diverse experiences — current and former federal judges, a former Solicitor General, two U.S. Senators — my sole criterion was to select candidates with an unwavering commitment to an originalist understanding of the U.S. Constitution, who also understand the unique threats to liberty in the 21st century (including lurking state action),” Ramaswamy said in a statement.
The list, first reported by Axios, includes multiple federal appeals court judges, like Judge James Ho, a member of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals who Trump suggested as a potential nominee to the Supreme Court prior to the 2020 presidential election.
Ramaswamy’s list also includes three other federal appeals court judges: Judge Lawrence VanDyke, Judge Lisa Branch, and Judge Thomas Hardiman.
The list is rounded out with three non-judges, including Senators Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas), both of whom also appeared at times on Trump’s Supreme Court shortlists.
Ramaswamy also included Paul Clement, a veteran Supreme Court advocate who served as U.S. solicitor general under the second Bush administration.
