Midterms just the start for court controversy
President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is on a near-certain course to the U.S. Supreme Court bench by next week. And the full political impact of his ascension to the highest court could reverberate far beyond the midterms.
A preliminary vote is scheduled for today but the planned weekend vote on his confirmation — after accusations of sexual misconduct spurred a larger partisan war over sexism, women’s rights, due process and the power of patriarchy — could be the closest in history. Justice Clarence Thomas was confirmed by a 52-48 vote in 1991 after a confirmation process that has drawn constant comparisons to Kavanaugh’s.
The federal appellate judge likely has the 50 votes from the Republican caucus to secure his approval, with the tie-breaking vote cast by Vice President Mike Pence if necessary.
Signals from some of the most closely-watched lawmakers put the odds on Kavanaugh’s side. Sens. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) called the controversial supplemental FBI report “thorough.”
If they back Kavanaugh, it would be enough to put him on the bench even if Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia vote against him. All other Democrats are united against Kavanaugh’s bid.
But the nomination accelerated already heated divisions in Washington and throughout the country, with Trump, Senate Republican leaders and conservative groups decrying allegations of sexual misconduct as a left-wing smear campaign.
Sen. Orrin Hatch, (RUTAH) dismissed the allegations and Democratic criticism of the supplemental FBI investigation that rapped this week as the “politics of baseless personal destruction.”
Democrats pushed back, accusing Republicans of steamrolling over survivors of sexual assault for the political prize of a conservative high court justice.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) blasted the reopened FBI probe, in which neither Kavanaugh nor Christine Blasey Ford, who testified that he attacked her when they were teens, were questioned.
Blumenthal said it was merely designed to give vulnerable senators cover to vote in Kavanaugh’s favor.
“A check-the-box scam,” he said to reporters yesterday.
Crowds gathered yesterday outside the Capitol, the U.S. Supreme Court and the buildings housing the offices of Senate members in protest of Kavanaugh’s nomination.
Advocacy groups have promised a “pink wave” of Republican opposition at the ballot box based on the nomination, but recent poll numbers suggest the battle has also energized the GOP’s base.
The nomination drew a rare response from a former high court justice.
Retired Justice John Paul Stevens said he initially thought Kavanaugh was qualified based on his intellect. But Stevens said he thought differently after the nominee’s appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week.
“I fell his performance in the hearings ultimately changed my mind,” Stevens told a gathering of retirees in Boca Raton, Fla.