President-elect Donald Trump quietly met with Alabama-based Judge William Pryor on Saturday, people familiar with the unannounced meeting told The Associated Press. The move comes just a handful of days before Trump is supposed to announce his Supreme Court nominee.
Trump has already expressed that Pryor, 54, as well as Judge Diane Sykes, 59, are his favorites for the position. Pryor serves on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and was the attorney general in Alabama between 1997 and 2004, following in the footsteps of Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.). Sessions is Trump's choice for attorney general, and has praised Pryor as someone who "personally does not believe in abortion. He does not believe it is right. He believes it is wrong."
Pryor has slammed Roe v. Wade as the "worst abomination in the history of constitutional law," but his addition to the court would need the support of another Trump Supreme Court appointment before abortion rights could be greatly restructured.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
If selected, Pryor would fill a vacancy on the court left by Justice Antonin Scalia after his death last year. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) refused to give President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee, Judge Merrick Garland, a hearing; Garland's nomination recently expired after 293 days.
-
Political cartoons for November 1Cartoons Saturday's political cartoons include insurance premiums, early voting in NYC, and more
-
Salted caramel and chocolate tart recipeThe Week Recommends Delicious dessert can be made with any biscuits you fancy
-
Meet Ireland’s new socialist presidentIn the Spotlight Landslide victory of former barrister and ‘outsider’ Catherine Connolly could ‘mark a turning point’ in anti-establishment politics
-
Senate votes to kill Trump’s Brazil tariffSpeed Read Five Senate Republicans joined the Democrats in rebuking Trump’s import tax
-
Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICESpeed Read Half of the new ICE directors are reportedly from DHS’s more aggressive Customs and Border Protection branch
-
Shutdown stalemate nears key pain pointsSpeed Read A federal employee union called for the Democrats to to stand down four weeks into the government standoff
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters
-
Trump demands millions from his administrationSpeed Read The president has requested $230 million in compensation from the Justice Department for previous federal investigations
