Four of Donald Trump’s potential Supreme Court picks clerked for justices currently serving on the nation’s highest bench. This means that if any were to be confirmed for the court vacancy, that person would serve alongside the justice for whom they previously worked.
Associate Chief Justice of the Utah Supreme Court Thomas Lee, Associate Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court David Stras, and Colorado Supreme Court Justice Allison Eid all clerked for Justice Clarence Thomas, who has served on the U.S. Supreme Court since 1991.
Raymond Kethledge, federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, clerked for Anthony Kennedy, the court’s most senior justice, in 1997.
Another of Trump’s picks, Judge Joan Larsen of the Michigan Supreme Court, clerked for Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in February. President Barack Obama has nominated Judge Merrick Garland to fill his seat, but Senate Republicans refuse to hold a hearing on the president’s nominee. They allege the next president should have the right to appoint a justice, which led presumptive Republican presidential nominee Trump to release his list of potential picks on Wednesday.
Steven Collonton, federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, clerked for former Chief Justice William Rehnquist from 1989 to 1990. Current Chief Justice John Roberts also clerked for Rehnquist, a decade earlier from 1980-81. Roberts was then nominated by President George W. Bush to fill Rehnquist’s seat when the chief justice died in 2005.
Bush also appointed Justice Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court, and appointed all six of Trump’s shortlist candidates who serve on the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals to their current positions.
Two other currently service justices, Steven Breyer and Elana Kagan, also clerked for Supreme Court justices earlier in their careers.
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