Sen. Mike Lee says he'd accept SCOTUS nomination if asked
Sen. Mike Lee says he would not decline a nomination to the Supreme Court if President-elect Donald asked him to fill the open spot on the bench.
“If he asked me that question, I would not say no,” the Utah Republican said on KSL Newsradio’s “The Doug Wright Show” on Thursday.
Lee added that he’s grateful to have been re-elected in November to the Senate, with nearly 70 percent of support from voters in Utah.
“That said, if the president approached me in the manner you just described, I wouldn’t tell him no and I’m honored to be on that list,” he said.
During the 2016 election, Mr. Trump released shortlists for possible Supreme Court nominees twice. Lee appeared on the expanded list in September and his brother, Thomas Lee, appeared on the first list in May. Lee, who did not support Mr. Trump’s presidential candidacy, met with him in December.
The brother is an associate justice for the Utah Supreme Court and clerked for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas after law school at the University of Chicago. If nominated and confirmed by the Senate, he would be the first Mormon to serve as a justice on the high court.