Trump to Nominate Justice Don Willett for Fifth Circuit

So reports San Antonio Express-News:

President Trump on Thursday will nominate two conservatives from Texas with compelling personal stories to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, according to a senior administrative official.

Texas Supreme Court Justice Don Willett was cited by Trump as a potential U.S. Supreme court pick during his presidential campaign. Dallas appellate lawyer James Ho is a former Texas solicitor general who has argued cases before state and federal courts.

Willett -- a prolific Twitter user whose wit with more than 96,000 followers and the title of Texas “Tweeter Laureate” --had gently mocked Trump in some tweets during the campaign for the White House.

The article has a collection of some of Justice Willett's "gently mock[ing]" tweets.

I had previously blogged about Justice Willett back in the heyday of speculation as to who Trump would nominate to fill the Supreme Court seat left vacant by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. At the time, Justice Willett was on Trump's list of potential nominees, although Trump ultimately nominated now-Justice Neil Gorsuch to the Court.

It will be interesting to see whether Justice Willett faces heightened scrutiny in his confirmation hearing given his prior inclusion on Trump's list of potential Supreme Court nominees. Justice Willett also may have a wider public profile than some of Trump's other nominees in light of his active, and often humorous, Twitter account. This, coupled with existing dissatisfaction by Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee may lead to some interesting exchanges whenever the hearings end up taking place.