WASHINGTON(TIP): Indian Origin Amul Thapar, 49 is one of the potential Supreme Court nominees to replace Justice Kennedy.

 Amul Thapar, 49, a McConnell favorite, was handpicked by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to serve as the US attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky. In 2006, he went on to a seat on the US District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky.

Trump nominated Thapar to the 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals in 2017. He was born in Michigan and served in government as well as private practice. In 2007, Thapar was the first American of South Asian descent to be named to an Article III federal judgeship.

Justice Anthony Kennedy, a longtime member of the Supreme Court and frequent swing vote, announced Wednesday that he will retire, giving President Donald Trump the chance to fill his seat.

The opportunity will allow Trump to make a major, lasting mark on the nation’s highest court by putting in place a second justice, after his choice to elevate Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court last year following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in 2016.

Trump, reacting to the news at the White House, said he had spoken with Kennedy earlier Wednesday and asked the outgoing justice about possible contenders to replace him.

“(We) had a very deep discussion. I got his ideas on things,” Trump said in the Oval Office. “I asked him if he had certain people he had great respect for that could potentially take his seat.”

During his remarks, Trump pointed to a list of potential picks for the court that he had maintained during the campaign and updated last fall.

Here are a few names of possible contenders for the vacancy.  Brett Kavanaugh, former Kennedy clerk; Amy Coney Barrett, former Notre Dame professor; Raymond Kethledge, former Kennedy clerk; Mike Lee, Utah senator; and Thomas Hardiman, runner-up for Gorsuch seat.