Trump sets day next week for Supreme Court nominee announcement

SUPREME COURT PICK. This file photo taken on October 22, 2016 shows President Donald Trump during a campaign event at the Eisenhower Hotel in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. File photo by Mandel Ngan/AFP

WASHINGTON, DC, USA – President Donald Trump said that on Thursday of next week, February 2, he will announce his nominee to fill a vacancy on the US Supreme Court.

Trump made his announcement Wednesday, January 25, on Twitter.

I will be making my Supreme Court pick on Thursday of next week.Thank you!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2017

Trump's decision is a crucial one that could shape US law on major issues like abortion for decades.

One of the court's 9 seats has been vacant since conservative justice Antonin Scalia died in February 2016.

In the interim, Senate Republicans refused to give President Barack Obama's nominee, Merrick Garland, even a confirmation hearing, much less put the nomination to a vote.

So the court has been divided evenly between progressives and conservatives. That equality however runs the risk of the court deadlocking.

Trump has said he wants a candidate who is against abortion and firmly backs Americans' right to own guns. – Rappler.com