Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Trump picks court nominee
Kavanaugh’s conservative ties run deep
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Monday nominated Judge Brett Kavanaugh, a politically connected member of Washington’s conservative legal establishment, to fill Justice Anthony Kennedy’s seat on the Supreme Court, setting up a confirmation battle and potentially cementing the court’s rightward tilt.
“He is a brilliant jurist, with a clear and effective writing style, universally regarded as one of the finest and sharpest legal minds of our time,” Trump said in his prime-time televised White House announcement. He added: “There is no one in America more qualified for this position, and no one more deserving.”
The nomination of Kavanaugh, 53, a federal appeals court judge, former aide to President George W. Bush and onetime investigator of President Bill Clinton, was
not considered a huge surprise, given his conservative record, elite credentials and deep ties among the Republican legal groups that have advanced conservatives for the federal bench.
But it stands to galvanize Democrats and Republicans in the months before the midterm elections. Moments after the announcement, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., the Senate minority leader, said, “I will oppose Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination with everything I have.” Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who leads the barest of Republican majorities, had expressed misgivings about Kavanaugh’s path to confirmation but said Monday that he was a “superb choice.”
Kennedy, who is retiring, held the swing vote in many closely divided cases on issues such as abortion, affirmative action, gay rights and the death penalty. Replacing him with a committed conservative, who could serve for decades, stands to fundamentally alter the balance of the court.
Kavanaugh’s long history of legal opinions, as well as his role in some of the fiercest partisan battles of the past two decades, will give Democrats plenty of ammunition for tough questions. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who leads the barest of Republican majorities, had also expressed misgivings about his path to confirmation.
Some conservatives have expressed concerns about Kavanaugh — a longtime judge and a former clerk for Kennedy — questioning his commitment to social issues like abortion and noting his time serving under Bush as evidence that he is a more establishment choice. But his supporters have cited his experience and wide range of legal opinions.
In his remarks, Kavanaugh
said he would “keep an open mind in every case.” But he declared that judges “must interpret the law, not make the law.”
Ahead of his announcement, Trump tweeted about the stakes: “I have long heard that the most important decision a U.S. President can make is the selection of a Supreme Court Justice - Will be announced tonight at 9:00 P.M.”
In choosing Kavanaugh, the president opted for a veteran of Republican politics but also someone with close ties to the Bush family — a history that aides to Trump said he viewed as a strike against him that had to be overcome.
As he did in choosing Justice Neil Gorsuch last year, Trump turned the selection process into a kind of Supreme Court sweepstakes, conducting a parade of interviews, promising a blockbuster choice and stretching out his decision-making over a weekend at his golf club in New Jersey before announcing it in a prime-time appearance at the White House.
But there was less underlying drama than Trump’s theatrical approach suggested. As he did last time, the president chose from a list of two dozen candidates, carefully curated for him by the Federalist Society, which functions as a pipeline to supply conservatives to the federal bench.
Trump narrowed the list to four finalists, the others being Judges Thomas Hardiman, Raymond Kethledge and Amy Coney Barrett. All four are white, middle-age conservative federal appeals court judges. Three are Catholic; only Kethledge is not.
DEMOCRATS’ STRATEGY
For Democrats, the nomination sets up a political battle they are almost certain to lose. While Republicans hold a razor-thin margin in the Senate — Sen. John McCain’s absence because of brain cancer reduces it to 50 seats — a handful of Democrats might vote for the nominee, particularly
those running for re-election in states where Trump won in 2016 and is still popular.
Among Democrats facing that dilemma are Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Joe Donnelly of Indiana and Joe Manchin of West Virginia. All three voted to confirm Gorsuch. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., who is also up for re-election, made his intention to reject Trump’s choice clear hours before the president even announced it.
“I will oppose the nomination the president will make tonight because it represents a corrupt bargain with the far right, big corporations, and Washington special interests,” Casey said in a statement.
However slim his odds of success, Schumer framed the confirmation battle as a referendum on the issues most important to Democratic voters.
“Enormously important issues hang in the balance,” he said in the Senate before the announcement. “The right of workers to organize, the pernicious influence of dark money in our policy, the right of Americans to marry whom they love, the right to vote. Two issues of similar and profound consequence are the fate of the Affordable Care Act and a women’s freedom to make the most sensitive decisions about her body.”
Democrats have turned their attention to pressuring two Republicans, Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, to oppose any nominee who threatens Roe v. Wade. The two have supported access to abortion services.
Republicans hope the appointment will mobilize their voters, as well. But the path to confirming Kavanaugh is perhaps the most challenging of the four finalists, with lawmakers warning that his voluminous record could prolong the process, even past the November election.
McConnell told the president that Hardiman or Kethledge would have an easier path to confirmation.
But McConnell’s warning may have actually backfired, two people close to the president said, pushing Trump toward Kavanaugh.
The White House plans to roll out an intensive campaign to sell the nominee to the Senate and the American public. It could involve television commercials, including some targeted at the Democrats running for re-election in states won by Trump, according to officials.
Kavanaugh will embark on a busy schedule of courtesy calls to key members of the Senate Judiciary Committee and other senators.
Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana said he was bracing for a tough confirmation battle as Democrats focus on abortion. Kennedy, a member of the Judiciary Committee, which will get the first chance to question the nominee, predicted a “rough, tough, down in the dirt, ear-pulling, nose-biting fight.”
Arkansas’ two Republican senators, John Boozman and Tom Cotton, both issued statements supporting Kavanaugh.
“Judge Kavanaugh is a distinguished jurist whose extensive experience and respect within the legal community make him uniquely qualified to serve on the Supreme Court,” Boozman said in his statement. “I encourage my colleagues to thoroughly consider this nomination.”
“Judge Kavanaugh has an impressive record as a jurist and as a lawyer,” Cotton wrote. “This is a highly consequential nomination, and it deserves the most careful consideration, so I look forward to meeting with Judge Kavanaugh soon to discuss more in detail his views on the Supreme Court’s role in our constitutional democracy.”