Donald Trump urged to avoid controversial Supreme Court pick

The first two are the top contenders for the position, said NPR.

Americans should give the president a chance, Phillips said Sunday, at least long enough to actually let him announce his Supreme Court selection.

Ginsburg was confirmed by the senate by a whopping 96 votes to 3. And while Kavanaugh's judicial opinions are publicly known, McConnell is uneasy about relitigating Bush-era controversies, the officials briefed on his discussions with Trump said.

Hatch's office did not immediately return a request for comment. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine. The three others interviewed were justices Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett and Raymond Kethledge.

Trump is set to announce his nominee in a televised address on Monday evening.

He then added: "And I will devote all my energies to ensuring that we confirm the kind of Supreme Court justice America needs: a justice who says what the law is, not what she wants it to be; a justice who calls balls and strikes instead of swinging for the fences; a justice whose foremost allegiance is to the American people and to the Constitution". It is similar to how Trump has approached most of his self-imposed deadlines for appointees, toggling between choices until almost the last moment. McCaskill, a centrist Democrat who broke with her other red state colleagues by voting against Neil Gorsuch a year ago, insists that she has not already made up her mind to vote "no" against retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy's successor. I've argued cases before the Supreme Court for them. While Barrett is problematic on the abortion issue, Kavanaugh is unpopular among some Republican senators because of his track record as staff secretary under President George W Bush.

That's when Hatch dropped two potential major clues as to who Trump plans to nominate.

Kethledge is a Midwesterner who has issued strongly conservative rulings on immigration, religion, campaign finance and gun rights. Former clerk for Justice Kennedy provides insight. But unlike most recent Supreme Court contenders, he graduated from a public university's law school, at the University of MI, and he has spent less time in Washington than many.

But McConnell's logic cuts both ways. "I'm very, very happy with them and we will pick somebody who will be outstanding, hopefully for many years to come", he said. But his advisers say he is prepared to push through the nominee with only Republican votes - and that is why he is sounding notes of caution about Kavanaugh and Barrett.