Jeb Bush said he “probably would” nominate someone to fill a vacant seat on the Supreme Court if he, like President Obama, had a justice die with less than a year left in his presidency.
“I’m an Article 2 guy. We should be respectful of the Constitution, but whatever powers are afforded to the Presidency, the president ought to use them,” Bush said during CNN’s GOP Town Hall.
Bush is not completely on-message with other Republicans, many of whom believe Obama should let the next president submit a justice for Senate approval.
“I’ll tell you the kind of person I would pick. It would be someone who did not aspire to legislate from the bench. It would be someone with a deep intellectual acumen and persuasive skills because this is a collaborative body. You have to sway people toward our view, toward your opinion, the majority opinion,” Bush said.
.@JebBush describes the type of person he would nominate for #SCOTUS. https://t.co/1R06wJXLFt #GOPTownHall https://t.co/t16Y2UyltD
— CNN (@CNN) February 19, 2016