WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump today said he will not select a Supreme Court nominee who will participate in "judicial activism" from the bench but will choose a justice who will faithfully interpret the Constitution as written, and not re-write it.
Trump's comments come just days before he is scheduled to reveal his pick to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy.
According to the White House, Trump has so far interviewed seven judges including Indian-American Amul Thapar to replace Supreme Court Justice Kennedy, who announced his retirement recently.
In choosing Justice Kennedy's replacement, my greatest responsibility is to select a Justice who will faithfully interpret the Constitution as written. Judges are not supposed to re-write the law, re-invent the Constitution or substitute their own opinions for the will of the people expressed through their laws, Trump said in his weekly address to the nation.
We reject judicial activism and policy-making from the bench. The faithful application of the Constitution is the bedrock of our freedom, the foundation of our society, and the linchpin of our government, he said.
"The American System tasks Congress with writing the laws, the executive with enforcing the laws, and the judiciary with issuing neutral judgements based upon those laws and the Constitution we have sworn to protect, said the US president.
Trump said, in choosing a new Justice, he will select someone with impeccable credentials, great intellect, unbiased judgement, and deep reverence for the laws and Constitution of the United States.
I look forward to making an announcement soon so that we can further strengthen and protect liberty and justice for all, Trump said in his weekly address to the nation.
The nomination of a new Supreme Court Judge in the US is considered as a game changer for the generational influence it has.
Trump has said he plans to announce the nomination of the new judge on July 9.
This is expected to be from his short-list of 25 judges, which includes Thapar.
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