U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, Texas U.S. Appeal Court Judge James Ho, and former Dallas attorney Lawrence Van Dyke would be on entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy’s shortlist for a Supreme Court nomination if he’s elected president.
Ramaswamy said that Cruz, Ho, Van Dyke, and U.S. Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) would be among nine names he would consider, Axios reported. He was expected to release the list on Monday during a press conference or press release.
The Republican is a long shot for the GOP nomination, polling behind former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. But he already knows the type of judge he would choose if an opening occurred.
The Cincinnati-born Ramaswamy, 37, said he would select nominees who would agree with him and conservatives on abortion, transgender issues, religion, and COVID mandates.
“What each of the individuals I would appoint share is their unwavering dedication to the principles of originalism and commitment to a constitutionalist judicial philosophy,” Ramaswamy told The New York Times. “Our courts are the last line of defense against an administrative state that rules by fiat, legislates from the bench, stifling freedom and truth.”
The list would include judges Thomas Hardiman of Pennsylvania, Lisa Branch of Georgia, John Bush of Kentucky, Justin Walker of Washington, D.C., and former solicitor general Paul Clement.
Ho wrote a lower-court ruling that led to the overturn of Roe v. Wade in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. Ho has called abortion a “moral tragedy.”
Van Dyke ruled as a U.S. Appeals Court judge that a beauty pageant could exclude transgender contestants.
Ramaswamy’s campaign drew praise from former President Trump over the weekend.
“I think Vivek has done a very good job, frankly,” Trump said of Ramaswamy, according to USA Today.
Ramaswamy said he would not be open to being Trump’s vice-presidential candidate.
“I will be helpful to this country in whatever way I can, but I would not be number two or member of an administration. “I just don’t think that’s the right way for me to make the maximal positive impact on this country,” Ramaswamy said on ‘The Clay & Buck Show.’
“I think there’s a lot of other talented political leaders in the Republican Party, and a lot of them are going to be needed in the administration,” he continued. “I think there aren’t that many talented executives in terms of people who can actually build companies.”
“Lasting enterprises lead in the private sector. So I’m going to have an impact that way,” Ramaswamy added. “But I think when it comes to reforming the executive branch of the government, it just happens that I have probably the clearest understanding of how to actually shut down the administrative state and the federal bureaucracy.”