President Donald Trump is to announce his US Supreme Court pick today, an intensely anticipated decision that opposition Democrats say will likely push the bench rightward with explosive implications for the country.
Trump plans to unveil his pick to succeed retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy in a 9:00 pm (0100 GMT) televised appearance at the White House.
"We are close to making a decision," Trump told reporters late last night.
The choice was down to four people, he said, adding that "you can't go wrong" with any of them.
"I'll be deciding tonight or tomorrow sometime by 12 o'clock," he said. In a later tweet he said he was looking forward to the Monday night announcement of his "exceptional" pick.
Kennedy was long a swing vote on the nine-member court, and Trump's choice -- his second opportunity in 18 months to fill a Supreme Court vacancy -- will dramatically affect many aspects of American life, from abortion to voting rights to immigration.
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Conservative on firearms and election financing, Kennedy could be more progressive on issues such as abortion and affirmative action. An example of this came in 2015, when, thanks to him, same-sex marriage was legalized across the United States.
As a result, Democrats -- unable to block the nominee unless they lure some Republican senators to their side -- have stressed the high stakes of the president's decision as they prepare for the confirmation battle ahead.
Senator Dianne Feinstein said Trump's choice "could have a bigger effect on Americans' daily lives than any justice in our lifetime." Another Democrat, Senator Richard Blumenthal, on Sunday assailed Trump's reliance on a list of potential nominees endorsed by the conservative Federalist Society.
"I've never seen a president of the United States in effect make himself a puppet of outside groups and choose from a group of right-wing fringe ideologues," he said on ABC's "This Week."
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