3 Judges President Trump Could Nominate To The Supreme Court Tuesday

President Donald Trump will announce his pick to be Justice Atonin Scalia's successor on the Supreme Court on Tuesday night, Jan. 31, according to a tweet.

"I have made my decision on who I will nominate for The United States Supreme Court," Trump said on Twitter. "It will be announced live on Tuesday at 8:00 P.M."

Scalia died suddenly in February 2016 during the Obama administration, but with Republicans in control of the Senate, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had the power to prevent the president from bringing his nominee to a vote. Because of current filibuster rules, Trump will need at least eight Democrats in the Senate to join with their GOP colleagues to pass any nominee.

According to Politico, Trump's shortlist has been narrowed to just three conservative Court of Appeals judges:

Third Circuit Judge Thomas Hardiman

• His judicial history tends to side with police over the public, as he has ruled in favor of strip-searching jail inmates and wrote a dissent denying the citizens' right to film cops.
• He donated to Republican candidates before being appointed to the bench and defended corporations in his private practice.

10th Circuit Judge Neil Gorsuch

• Gorsuch is the author of a book arguing that euthanasia and assisted suicide are always wrong.
• He is a devoted believer in the principles of "originalism," a theory of constitutional and legal interpretation that his potential predecessor Scalia championed.

11th Circuit Judge William Pryor

• Pryor previously served as attorney general of Alabama between 1997 and 2004.
• He once wrote an amicus brief in support sodomy bans and called Roe v. Wade the "worst abomination in the history of constitutional law."

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore