Cruz would be the one pick that could possibly be confirmed by the end of October.
I don’t think a lot of people realize how time consuming the vetting process is to nominate a judge. You can’t just nominate and start the voting process, each Senator can call a meeting with the nominee for instance. FBI checks can lead to “delays”, Judicial committee hearings can be “delayed” by “procedures”.
Since Cruz is a Senator, he could bypass a lot of those delays but I think the powers that be want a female. Who knows. Virtue signaling and identity politics should give way to concrete results IMO.
BTW, a active lower court Judge nominated to the USSC still must go through the vetting process again. The only exemption is a retired or sitting Senator.
> I’d be far more comfortable with Ted Cruz as the nominee than any sitting judge -
Great point, and I’ll abstract it. No politicians for president. No career judges for SC.
Anyone that thinks the son of a Cuban born in Canada is a natural born citizen of the United States does not belong on the SC.