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Utah Senator Mike Lee on President Trump’s list of possible US Supreme Court nominees

Posted at 10:15 PM, Jun 27, 2018
and last updated 2018-06-28 00:15:02-04

SALT LAKE CITY -- Utah Senator Mike Lee is on the list of names President Trump says he will consider as a nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court.

“If the President asked me to consider that, I would not say no,” Senator Lee said during a web based town hall on Wednesday night.

Senator Lee is likely going to be a popular pick among Republicans.

"I think the single best choice that President Trump could make to fill this vacancy is Senator Mike Lee,” Texas Senator Ted Cruz said.

Known as a staunch conservative, Senator Lee previously clerked on the Supreme Court for Justice Samuel Alito.

Friend and former chief of staff, Boyd Matheson, says if Senator Lee joins the court, people should not expect a judge who rules along party lines.

“It’s about the Constitution first last and always," Matheson said. "Not from a left or right perspective."

Thomas Burr, the Washington bureau chief for our news partner the Salt Lake Tribune, believes the Supreme Court may be a dream job for Lee.

“Senator Lee has always been willing and open and I think a little giddy at the prospect of being named to the Supreme Court,” Burr said.

There is one other Utahn on the list released by the President.

It’s someone Senator Lee knows well, his brother Thomas Lee, currently serving as a Utah Supreme Court justice.