The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
What’s next in Supreme Court decision?
Senate battle expected over Supreme Court nominee, high stakes
The coming battle over a Supreme Court nominee promises to be a bruising one.
Republicans are eager for conservatives to gain a firm majority on the court. Democrats are voicing alarm about what the new justice could mean for issues such as abortion rights and gay rights. The stakes are enormous, and advocacy groups that don’t have to unveil their donors are spending heavily to shape the fight.
President Donald Trump’s top contenders for the vacancy appear to be federal appeals judges Amy Coney Barrett, Thomas Hardiman, Brett Kavanaugh and Raymond Kethledge.
Trump planned to announce his pick Monday night. Regardless of his choice, it’s likely that the closely divided Senate will be holding a momentous confirmation vote just weeks before the midterm election.
Republicans may have a narrower margin for error than they did when the Senate confirmed Trump’s first Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch, by a vote of 5445 in April 2017.
Democratic Sen. Doug Jones of Alabama replaced Republican Sen. Luther Strange, cutting the GOP’s Senate majority to 51-49. Meanwhile, Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona is battling brain cancer and has not been back to the Capitol since December.
That increases the focus on two Republicans — Sen. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. Both support a woman’s right to have an abortion and will be looking for assurances that the nominee would not overturn the Roe v Wade decision establishing abortion rights. Trump pledged in 2016 that he would be “putting pro-life justices on the court.”
On the Democratic side, the focus will be on Sens. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Joe Donnelly of Indiana and Joe Manchin of West Virginia. All three voted to confirm Gorsuch and are up for reelection in states that Trump won handily. Whatever they decide will upset a large group of voters in their home states.
If Collins and Murkowski vote “no” and Democrats all vote “no,” the nomination would be blocked. If McCain were to miss the vote, only one GOP defection would be needed to block the nomination if all Democrats were opposed.
Democrats are stinging from Republicans refusing to grant a hearing to President Barack Obama’s choice to serve on the Supreme Court, Merrick Garland.
They are calling on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to wait until after the November election to schedule a hearing and vote. McConnell has rejected that possibility, saying the decision to not fill the vacancy under Obama was prefaced on it being a presidential election year.
Democrats say McConnell is being hypocritical in moving forward with the nomination. While that argument won’t sway Republicans, their strategy could stiffen Democratic resolve to oppose the nominee. Liberal advocacy groups are challenging Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to keep the Democrats united.
Much of the groundwork for a successful confirmation comes in private meetings with the nominee and individual senators in coming weeks. For lawmakers who are not on the Judiciary Committee, it may be their only chance to talk with the nominee personally before a final vote. Gorsuch met with nearly three-quarters of the Senate in advance of his hearings.
The process is arduous.