Brett Kavanaugh Inches Closer to Confirmation as Resistance Weakens
“Senate Democrats said Friday that they will begin meeting with Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh later this month.”
Just a few weeks ago, Democrats were vowing to do whatever it takes to keep Judge Brett Kavanaugh from being confirmed to the United States Supreme Court. They played to their base by dialing the rhetoric up to ten, as usual. Now it looks like that effort is beginning to fade.
Erin Kelly reports at USA Today:
Senate Democratic leaders to begin meeting with Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh
Senate Democrats said Friday that they will begin meeting with Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh later this month.
Most Democrats had been refusing to meet with President Trump’s nominee unless Republicans agreed to seek records from Kavanaugh’s three years as staff secretary for former President George W. Bush. Democrats now say they will demand those documents directly from Kavanaugh.
Kavanaugh, who was nominated on July 9, has so far met with only one Democrat: Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who is in a tough race for re-election in the Republican-leaning state.
Other Democrats – led by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California – will begin meeting with Kavanaugh after the August recess. The Senate will return from recess on August 15.
Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., will meet with Kavanaugh on August 21, said her spokesman, Jonas Edwards-Jenks.
In Massachusetts, I see this pro-Kavanaugh ad from the Judicial Crisis Network on TV at least once a day:
Allahpundit of Hot Air offers this take:
The writing’s on the wall. Realistically, three Republican votes were in play after Kavanaugh was nominated. There were the perennials, Collins and Murkowski, but both have been bullish on him since the beginning. And why wouldn’t they be? He’s a veteran of the Bush White House and has been a judge for more than a decade, with a long paper trail of opinions. He’s the ultimate conservative/establishment known quantity. Of course center-right Republicans would feel comfortable with him…
So, barring anything truly scandalous emerging from Kavanaugh’s professional history, he’s got 50 votes. And precisely because he’s been on the Republican radar for SCOTUS for basically his entire professional life, he’s probably the least likely person from Trump’s short list to have anything scandalous in his record.
This piece from Lisa Blatt in Politico is also worth a look:
I’m a Liberal Feminist Lawyer. Here’s Why Democrats Should Support Judge Kavanaugh.
Sometimes a superstar is just a superstar. That is the case with Judge Brett Kavanaugh, who had long been considered the most qualified nominee for the Supreme Court if Republicans secured the White House. The Senate should confirm him.
I have argued 35 cases before the Supreme Court, more than any other woman. I worked in the Solicitor General’s Office for 13 years during the Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations. Because I am a liberal Democrat and feminist, I expect my friends on the left will criticize me for speaking up for Kavanaugh. But we all benefit from having smart, qualified and engaged judges on our highest court, regardless of the administration that nominates them.
The far left will continue to fight Kavanaugh’s confirmation, but their efforts look less likely to succeed.
DONATE
Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.
Comments
They played to their base by dialing the rhetoric up to ten, as usual.
They were trying for “11”
To get that final push perhaps they should have used Spinal Tap’s “This goes to 11,”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuzpsO4ErOQ
When originalists dream,
Kavanaugh will be confirmed, making a Firm Five. Ruth Buzzy, who delusionally thinks she’s in charge of her life span, may suffer a snip of the Abhorred Shears of Atropos, with DJT naming her replacement (yes, the Senate will remain GOP). Breyer, longing to spend his final days eating Breyers® Ice Cream with his grandkids and realizing that he will now be facing a Solid Six, responds to the loss of the Buzz, by crying, “What’s the use; I can no longer effectively legislate on behalf of the Democrat Party from the bench,” and resigns. The Don goes into action, and the Solid Six becomes the Solid Seven.
Then, in late-2022 or mid-2023, Thomas & Alito, each of whom will by then be in his mid-70s, come to DJT (yes, there will be a second term), announce their retirements, and ask the Don to replace them with people in the mold of Scalia so long as each replacement is in his/her mid-40s. In time Roberts does the same, though he’ll be coming to President Mike Pence. The Solid Seven remains solid for decades.
This should be circulated on other forums, it might be just as effective as Trump’s tweets in stirring the pot.
A story with a happy ending. I like it! Won’t hold my breath for Buzzy to be replaced by Trump, the Democrats may wheel her into the courtroom with a breathing machine and pacemaker keeping her “alive”. She’s already told God that she wants Her to keep her alive until a Democrat is President. She won’t go voluntarily.
I suspect that if Trump wins reelection, both Breyer and Ruthy will retire.
I think there’s a reasonable chance that Thomas might resign at the end of this next term. If the GOP picks up Senate seats, as seems likely, his replacement should sail through confirmation. Justice Thomas will turn 80 at the end of the next term.
Justice Thomas is only 70 years old, not nearly 80 years old. He was born on June 23, 1948.
Subheadline: Democrats suddenly realize that protesting that they don’t know anything about a nominee and refusing to meet with him makes for poor theater.
Perhaps the fact that the National Archives rebuffed the minority’s request for Kavanaugh documents when he was in W’s Administration had an effect on this decision. Undoubtedly they will come up with a plethora of objections based on their interviews with Kavanaugh. The Resistance ain’t done yet.
I suspect that it is just a rope-a-dope. Proabably looking for a chance to delay the confirmation hoping to win back the Senate.
Dems never expected to win, they’re just trying to eat up as much of Trump’s time as possible.
Clarence Thomas ought to consider retiring in 2019. As much as I love him on the court, replacing him in an environment where the GOP doesn’t control the senate and the exec will be impossible.
This of course presumes the GOP holds onto the senate this fall.
I can envision this conversation happening as early as next year:
Ruth Bader Ginsburg: I am really thinking about retirement now.
Chuck Schumer: Not a chance. You’re staying on the bench.
RBG: Look, I’m tired and my health is failing. I really want to spend the time I have left in peace. Haven’t I already done enough for you guys?
Schumer: Forget about it. Once you’re in, you’re in for life and, if I have anything to say about it, not even Death will release you from your service to us.
RBG: But…
Schumer: Read my lips: forget about it. Now be a good little judgie and hold still while I chain your ankle to the court bench.
My attempt at prediction —
– R’s add to Senate majority in 2018.
– Breyer or Sotomayor has a major health incident and is forced to leave the court.
– Trump’s replacement justice is confirmed, guaranteeing a solid 6-3 conservative majority on the court for the next decade or two.
– Trump is relected in 2020.
– RBG, 88 at the time, says F-it and retires. She passes just a few months later.
Ever since the Bork hearings (really the Watergate hearings ), the Democrats have played games… and I HATE that the dynamic of the last many years has been to ruin or attempt to ruin the reputation of jurists.. and then once they are seated , the damage is done.. and repeated.. destroying any faith in the rulings that come down. The liberal justices almost always reach to find new things or push a agenda and vote in lock-step… while constitutionalist jurists try to balance the Constitution and the law.
If you asked a radical back in the day what they’d want to do to America, they’d say, I want anarchy. I want to tear down their faith in law and order.. that they don’t trust their police, or their courts or their elections.
Isn’t that exactly what the Democrat party has been actively doing for 40 years?? Seriously, think about it.
Constructionist judges who defer to legislation as written with a skeptical eye toward regulation over-reach and agency autonomy …
It’s like the game in a republic is to win elections n enact change that way. “Elections have consequences.” someone once sayd.
Meanwhile, the same people who disagree with The Orange Crush and wring their hands about (his) “authoritarian tendencies” don’t seem to like these “If you want it, pass a law.” judges much.
I become confused.
I don’t get the desire to have Thomas retire.
Yes, he is older, but he is a solid conservative. Sometimes the newly appointed Justice is not as conservative as one thought, as history has shown us
Nor do I. Thomas is the best of that bunch.
Word! — to both of you! Thomas absolutely is the best of the lot! Moreover, as I noted above in correcting another commenter who was off by a full decade, the man is only 70 years old right now, not nearly 80 years old. By SCOTUS standards, especially those recently established by Ginsburg and Stevens, and considering standard Life Expectancy table of averages for Black Male Americans, he should still be sitting on that Court in the 2030’s.
Thomas won’t retire until majority opinions are coming out that he could have written but didn’t. His time is finally coming, and may he live long to enjoy it. He will have the last word over racists like Biden.
Kavanaugh was literally the lawyer who aided in the Vince Foster suicide cover up. He’s a swamp creature with dirt on the rest of the swamp. He’s got too much leverage on the Resistance and everybody else.
This confirmation will be and always was a shoo-in.