A graduate of Yale Law School, Kavanaugh was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals in 2003 by George W. Bush, but Senate Democrats delayed his confirmation for almost three years.
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Democratic senators seen as potential swing votes in favor of President Donald Trump’s latest nominee to the Supreme Court, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, said Monday following his nomination that they would examine his record closely.
Mike Sacks, a reporter for the Fox television affiliate in NY and a self-described lapsed lawyer, was among the first to make the connection on Twitter. “I look forward to meeting with Judge Kavanaugh, examining his rulings and making a determination of whether to provide my consent”. “An exceptional person will be chosen”. Hardiman, meanwhile, served with Trump’s sister on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit in Philadelphia. Judge Brett Kavanaugh is an appellate judge from Maryland who has ruled against Obamacare and abortion rights in the past.
While Trump didn’t name the four, top contenders for the role have included federal appeals judges Brett Kavanaugh, Raymond Kethledge, Amy Coney Barrett and Thomas Hardiman.
Trump also hopes to pressure several Democrats into voting to confirm his nominee. But in a law review article in 2009, Kavanaugh wrote that it was not in the public’s interest to indict a sitting president.
During Trump’s presidential campaign, he emphasized that he would appoint conservative justices to the Supreme Court bench if he was elected. Trump signed Kavanaugh’s nomination papers Monday evening in the White House residence.
Looking ahead to his confirmation hearings, Kavanaugh said, “I will tell each senator that I revere the Constitution”.
The White House wants Kavanaugh to be in place by October 1, when the court’s next term formally opens, and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said the Senate will vote to confirm Kennedy’s successor in the fall. He served on the team of independent counsel Ken Starr during Starr’s investigation of the Clinton White House. This may also not be Trump’s last opportunity to appoint to the highest court in the United States: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg is 85, and Justice Stephen Breyer turns 80 in August. An online syllabus for his Winter 2018 course, “The Supreme Court”, describes its focus as the “important Supreme Court opinions that have been issued since 2005 when John Roberts became Chief Justice”.
Hardiman, who turned 53 on Sunday, lost out to Gorsuch in 2017. Given Trump’s known habit of leaning on family ties and valuing loyalty above all, that could be decisive.
Republicans hold a mere 50-49 Senate majority, with the prolonged absence of the ailing Arizona GOP Sen.
“I urge the United States Senate to give this nomination adequate consideration, followed by swift confirmation”. “And I expect we’ll do that on sort of a normal timetable of a couple of months”.
A judge more conservative than Kennedy could vote to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 court decision establishing a woman’s right to abortion.
Trump is expected to reveal his pick at 9 p.m. Monday.
But Schumer and other Democrats based their opposition in large part on fears that Kavanaugh would band together with the court’s four conservative justices to restrict abortion rights and further undermine the Affordable Care Act.
“Kavanaugh’s personal writings show that he would allow Donald Trump’s abuses of power to go unchecked”, the organization said.
The looming midterm elections in November also could be a factor.
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The nominee, a District of Columbia appeals court judge, is a former adviser to ex-President George W Bush.
