On Sunday, President Trump tweeted that he intends to announce his next Supreme Court nominee at 9 p.m. EST on Monday. All eyes will be glued on the president, so you'll want to know how to watch Trump's Supreme Court announcement in order to keep up.
While formal broadcasting plans have not been shared by the White House, there are several places definitely planning to air Trump's announcement. Virtually anyone who has a stake in American politics will be interested to hear the nominee's name revealed, so plan for the coverage to be streamed on many major networks.
Though Trump has said when he expects to make his announcement, he did not share the where. Based on where he has shared other high-profile announcements, it's likely that it will come from the White House. The last time that he shared his pick for the Supreme Court, he delivered the information from the East Room of the White House. Virtually every major network shared video of the event.
Though there is not yet a formal link available, WhiteHouse.gov will almost definitely stream the event live, as will all major news networks, whether they do so in person or whether they opt to simply carry the live stream.
A long list of networks have tweeted that they intend to broadcast Trump's big announcement. These networks include places like CBS, ABC, C-SPAN, and NBC. Undoubtedly, CNN will also cover the event, and local network affiliates will also likely stream coverage. According to Deadline, many of the networks are prioritizing Trump's announcement so highly that they are rearranging their own program schedules.
Trump's big announcement comes nearly two weeks after Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his intention to retire. The retirement has largely been seen as a boon for conservatives, while Democrats and other-left leaning citizenry have widely lamented the loss. Though Kennedy was appointed by a conservative president, his judicial decisions have often been difficult to predict. He has sided, at times, with both liberal and conservative causes.
Because of the nature of the term, Supreme Court justices have the power to dramatically impact the legal and legislative culture of the United States. And since presidents tend to pick Supreme Court justices who are ideologically similar to themselves, Trump is all but guaranteed to appoint a replacement who is deeply conservative. A new conservative justice will cement the conservative bent of the court, and that bent could stay in place for decades.
Several major issues are at stake in the next several years, especially if a conservative judge is appointed. Members of both sides of the political spectrum anticipate challenges to abortion legality and LGBTQ rights, just to name a few concerns.
A right-leaning justice could flip key decisions that currently preserve abortion access and, potentially, marriage equality. While it's no guarantee that any cases related to those topics will wind their way up the court system and land on the Supreme Court docket, it's also impossible to predict. Evidence suggests that some activists have been intentionally bringing forth cases that could end up in a Supreme Court challenge, especially with abortion.
These are just some of the reasons that people across the country are expected to widely tune in to Trump's announcement. This will be the second Supreme Court justice that Trump will have appointed since assuming office, and its a tremendous responsibility so early on in a president's first term. It offers an opportunity to potentially affect the entire culture of the United States, and will likely have many, real-world impacts on American residents in the long run.
After Trump's announcement, discussion will likely continue regarding whether or when Congress will hold confirmation hearings. That will be an entire debate in and of itself. Monday simply marks the first step in what will likely be a very prolonged political chapter in the Trump presidency.
