Trump took the unusual step on the campaign of producing a public list of 21 possible candidates for the Supreme Court. That pool of judicial talent — in particular younger judges serving on state Supreme Courts — are now the front-runners to fill top federal court vacancies, according to three people involved in Trump’s judge-selection process.

“Funny how that happened,” said a person involved in Trump’s judicial selection process. “If they’re on a list of prospects for the Supreme Court, they’re sure as hell eligible for the Court of Appeals.”

Beyond Gorsuch, Trump has so far made one other court selection and it fits the mold of promoting young judges from his campaign list. Trump elevated Amul Thapar, one of the four finalists whom he personally interviewed for the Supreme Court seat, from a federal district court judgeship to the Court of Appeals. Thapar is only 47…

Putting state-level judges on federal courts can make eventual elevation to the Supreme Court smoother, one of the Trump advisers noted. For highly regarded state Supreme Court justices, it puts them through the ringer of Senate confirmation once, including a thorough review of all the paperwork that could trip them up as a potential high court nominee.

“It’s smart to push them through a Senate confirmation once,” the adviser said.