Brett will swing court to the right

Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation to the Supreme Court Saturday solidifies a conservative majority on the nation's highest bench — and his influence could soon be felt.

The embattled jurist may don his black robe as soon as Tuesday.

The Supreme Court convened its 2018-2019 session last month as the bitter fight over Kavanaugh's appointment raged on Capitol Hill.

While there are no major blockbusters on the horizon, the cases on the docket include fights over double jeopardy, property rights, the future of the Endangered Species Act and whether to execute a death row inmate suffering from dementia who can't remember committing the crime.

Kavanaugh's opponents were keenly interested in whether he'd vote to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that established a constitutional right to abortion.

While President Trump vowed to appoint judges who would seek to overturn Roe, Kavanaugh tried to ease fears during his confirmation hearings by telling lawmakers the case “is an important precedent of the Supreme Court that has been reaffirmed many times.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Friday he opposed Kavanaugh's nomination because the candidate was evasive in his answers on key topics during his confirmation hearings.

Schumer said Kavanaugh's views were “deeply at odds with the progress America has made in the last century of jurisprudence and at odds with what most Americans believe.”

His deeply partisan rant while defending himself against sexual assault allegations also raised eyebrows. In testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Kavanaugh placed blame for the tumult surrounding his nomination on Democrats and the Clinton family.

It also remains unclear what kind of relationship Kavanaugh will have with his fellow justices once he joins the bench.

Associate Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan appeared to take a swipe at her soon-to-be colleague, warning that the high court may lose legitimacy without a swing vote justice.

She praised Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and Justice Anthony Kennedy as centrists, and said over the last 30 years the court has always had a justice “who found the center.”

“It's not so clear … going forward, that sort of middle position — it's not so clear whether we'll have it,” Kagan said.