The Supreme Court is going prime time on live TV, with President Donald Trump announcing on Twitter that he will announce his pick to replace Justice Antonin Scalia at 7 p.m. today.
"I have made my decision on who I will nominate for The United States Supreme Court," Trump wrote on his personal Twitter account.
The president had originally planned to make the announcement Thursday.
Trump's shortlist of three federal appeals judges, culled from media accounts and confirmed by people close to the process, is: Neil Gorsuch of Colorado, Thomas Hardiman of Pennsylvania and William Pryor of Alabama.
[PRESIDENT TRUMP: Details on administration, previous coverage, photos, videos]
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer of New York has said Democrats will oppose any nominee outside the mainstream. He will likely decide whether to try to lead an effort to block, or filibuster, on the basis of the nominee's performance in confirmation hearings and feedback from his Democratic caucus, including the 10 senators who are up for re-election in states that Trump won last year.
Any senator can move to try to block a Supreme Court nomination. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., indicated Monday that he would make such a move, sending out a fundraising email that asked people to sign a petition saying "the Senate must oppose" Trump's nominee.
A filibuster attempt would force Republicans to find the 60 votes needed to end it, including at least eight Democrats, and as a result, delay or block the nomination. Republicans hold a 52-48 majority.
"What we hope would be that our Democratic friends will treat President Trump's nominees in the same way that we treated [Bill] Clinton and [Barack] Obama," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said this week.
Scalia died last February, and McConnell said within hours of his death that the next president, not Obama, should have the pick. Republicans didn't even hold hearings on Obama's nominee, Judge Merrick Garland, and the strategy paid off.
Information for this article was contributed by staff members of The New York Times and by Mary Clare Jalonick of The Associated Press.
A Section on 01/31/2017