US President Donald Trump has picked Brett Kavanaugh, a federal appeals court judge with extensive legal credentials and a lengthy political record, to succeed Justice Anthony M. Kennedy on the Supreme Court.
"Throughout legal circles, he is considered a true judge's judge," the President said.
Kavanaugh, 53, is an ideological conservative who is expected to push the court to the right on a number of issues including business regulation and national security.
The favourite of White House Counsel Donald McGahn, Kavanaugh is also considered a safer pick than some of the more partisan choices who were on the president's shortlist.
Trump called him one of the "sharpest legal minds of our time".
"There is no one more qualified for this position, and no one more deserving," Trump said, calling for "robust bipartisan support" and a "swift" confirmation in the Senate.
In accepting his nomination, Kavanaugh praised Kennedy as well as his parents. HIs father was a lawyer, and his mother was a judge.
In his remarks, the Supreme Court nominee said he would rigorously interpret the Constitution as written.
"A judge must interpret the law, not make the law," Kavanaugh added.
If confirmed, the appellate judge would become the second young, conservative jurist Trump has put on the top US court during his first term.
Kavanaugh's confirmation would give the president an even bigger role in shaping US policy for decades to come.
The potential to morph the federal judiciary led many conservatives to support Trump in 2016, and he has not disappointed so far with the confirmation of conservative Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch and numerous federal judges.
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