Tag: Back-fire

Monday morning, while the sun still shined and President Donald Trump’s supreme court nomination was more than nine hours away from being unveiled, Sen. Bob Casey issued a statement. Casey made it clear he would oppose any selection by the president, calling it “outrageous that President Trump will nominate from a list of just 25 dictated to him” by the conservative Heritage Foundation. More important still was the role played by campaign lawyer (and now White House counsel) Donald McGahn, who has been the curator of the list, which has expanded from 11 to 25. He was a chosen advisor to Trump. Brett Kavanaugh, nominated by Trump Monday to succeed the retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy, would be the second. Clearly a great deal is at stake for both parties. There was more than adequate time to hold the vote, but Republicans knew an additional Democratic justice would shift the court farther to the left, and there was no way they were going to let that happen. Nevertheless, Trump nominee Gorsuch was confirmed by 54–45 last year with three Red State Democrats joining Republicans in supporting him. What is clear is that Kavanaugh’s confirmation process in a bitter midterm election year is going to be a bloody partisan fight. That was where the real bargain was struck.