When Justice Anthony Kennedy – a swing vote – announced his retirement last month it became clear that Roe v Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that legalised abortion in the USA would soon be under threat.
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According to aides close to the White House who spoke to Politico, in that meeting Kennedy recommended Trump pick Brett Kavanaugh, who had served as a former law clerk to Kennedy.
Both senators issued noncommittal statements after Kavanaugh’s nomination on Monday, saying they looked forward to meeting him and reviewing his personal and judicial record. Within the next year, the Supreme Court will not only evaluate the future of health care access, voting rights, civil rights, reproductive rights, labor rights, and our environment, it may decide the president’s guilt or innocence in the Mueller investigation.
Kavanaugh dissented from his court’s 2011 conclusion that Obamacare, a law detested by conservatives, did not violate the U.S. Constitution, asserting that it was premature to decide the case’s merits. Two other Republicans, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of ME, support abortion rights and maintaining health insurance access for sick Americans – issues likely to be heard by the supreme court. That’s insane…to me that’s where the battle is going to be pitched, ‘ one GOP veteran of Supreme Court confirmation battles told Politico. In fact, the only member of “the Supremes” who isn’t Catholic or Jewish is Justice Neil Gorsuch, who is Episcopalian.
Democrats have turned their attention to pressuring two Republicans, Sens.
Pro-choice protesters demonstrate in front of the U.S. Supreme Court yesterday.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said opponents were using “40-year-old scare tactics” over abortion and other issues but they “will not stop us from doing the right thing”. In 2011, he argued in a dissenting opinion that the Supreme Court’s ruling in D.C. vs. Heller – the landmark case that struck down Washington, D.C.’s ban on handgun ownership – should also apply to the city’s ban on possession of most semi-automatic rifles.
Before Trump walked out to make his prime time announcement Monday night, a parade of conservative luminaries and Administration officials filed into the East Room of the White House to sit on gilded folding chairs set out in a wide arch around a lectern.
It rules on such issues as abortion, the death penalty, voter rights, immigration policy, campaign finance and racial bias in policing.
“Congress should give back to the President the full power to act when he believes that a particular independent counsel is ‘out to get him.’ Such a step not only would make the special counsel accountable, but it also would force the President and his surrogates to put up or shut up”.
Kavanaugh replied: “I would follow Roe v. Wade faithfully and fully”. Brian Fallon, the group’s executive director, said Tuesday that the group would place more ads targeting Democrats in North Dakota, Indiana and West Virginia – with a focus on the risk that Kavanaugh’s confirmation could represent to the ACA.
While conservatives rejoiced at Amar’s endorsement, many Democrats and liberals were dismayed. The White House said Monday that former Arizona Sen. It nearly sounds like the kind of thing President Trump might tweet when he rails against what he calls the “witch hunt” of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.
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If Republicans lose the Senate, they would still have control of the chamber until January. Jon Kyl would guide Trump’s nominee through the grueling Senate process. He works for Washington-based lobbying firm Covington & Burling.
