Paul Manafort, having just been reinstalled in the top advisory role for Republican front-runner Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, met with several GOP congressmen Thursday to reassure them about the businessman’s Supreme Court “short list.”
According to The Hill:
In a closed-door meeting at the Capitol Hill Club, conservative Rep. Raúl Labrador (R-Idaho) questioned Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort about whether the candidate would deviate from the list of potential high court nominees Trump released a day earlier.
“Is that the list?” Labrador asked Manafort in what was described by sources as a “cordial” exchange. “He changes positions sometimes.”
Manafort, Trump’s campaign chairman and chief strategist, replied that the list would not change.
Although he has yet to endorse Trump—and is the only member of the House GOP leadership to have not done so—Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) has praised the list of potential Supreme Court justices.
“I thought the list of judges was a very good step in the right direction,” he said. “We’re making progress.”
The Capitol Hill Club meeting also focused on possible vice presidential running mates for Trump. Although Trump’s list of possible candidates wasn’t made known, the congressmen reportedly took the opportunity to lobby for their respective choices.
Two new names to have surfaced around Washington circles has been that of former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.).
