Trump to announce Supreme Court pick next week

President Trump said Tuesday he will announce his selection to fill the Supreme Court vacancy “sometime next week.”

“I’ll be making my decision this week, we’ll be announcing next week,” he told reporters in the Oval Office. “We have outstanding candidates, and we will pick a truly great Supreme Court justice.” 

Trump’s nomination to fill the late Justice Antonin Scalia’s seat is expected to trigger a high-stakes battle in the Senate.

{mosads}The announcement comes hours before the president plans to sit down with Senate leaders at the White House to discuss his nominee to the high court.

Republicans last year refused to give former President Barack Obama’s nominee, Merrick Garland, a hearing or a vote. They argued that the vacancy shouldn’t be filled during an election year.

But Democrats have pledged to put up a fight over Trump’s nominee.

“If the nominee is not bipartisan and mainstream, we absolutely will keep the seat open,” Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Schumer has come under Republican fire for indicating that he would be willing to leave the Supreme Court seat open if Trump doesn’t appoint a “mainstream” nominee.

The New York Democrat is scheduled to sit down with Trump Tuesday afternoon in the Roosevelt Room to discuss the pick, alongside Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) — the top members on the Judiciary Committee.

Trump outlined a list of 21 potential picks during the campaign and has reportedly been narrowing down possible selections.

His nominee will need 60 votes — including at least 8 Democrats — to be approved by the Senate.

–Jordain Carney contributed to this report,