President Donald Trump said on Monday he would unveil his selection to new Supreme Court Justice by the end of the week after spending the weekend fielding advice and floating potential nominees to a wide orbit of advisers.
Some advisers to Trump encouraged him over the weekend to nominate a replacement for Ginsburg as quickly as possible, believing once a name is announced it will be harder for Republican senators to say they would oppose a Trump nominee on procedural grounds.
Already, two senators have said whoever wins November 03, election should select Ginsburg,s replacement. the decision on who to nominate to replace the late jurist and women,s rights icon-- and when to nominate her-- amounts to one of the biggest decisions of Trump,s presidency.
Acutely aware of the stakes, Trump was essentially on the phone the entire weekend as he campaigned in North Caroline on Saturday and visited his golf course Sunday, two sources said. In those two calls, he's made one thing clear: he wants to move fast.
On Monday morning interview on "Fox and Friends," Trump said, "I think it'll be on Friday or Saturday and we want to pay respect." "IT looks like we will have probably services on Thursday or Friday, as I understand it," he went on.
"And I think the respect we should wait for the services to be over for Justice Ginsburg. So we're looking at probably Friday or maybe Saturday," he added.
Trump appeared to take the more cautious view, saying on Fox he would make an announcement after Ginsburg's memorial service--even though his press secretary said on Fox News less than an hour beforehand he would likely release a name by Wednesday.
Still, with a persistent polling deficit ahead of November's vote, Trump is working on an accelerated timeline.
The President held several conversations with lawmakers and spoke with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, multiple times as he made clear his desire to have a confirmation vote on his nominee before the November 3 election.
As of Monday, Trump did not appear to have made a final selection but had instead narrowed down his shortlist to a handful of candidates.
The official said Trump has appeared highly aware that any missteps along the way could damage what appears to him a political lifeline.
