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Trump Appointments Tag

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 20, 2018 81 Comments
Now that Brett Kavanaugh is on the Supreme Court, it's worth taking a look back at what changed the course of the fight. Democrats had thrown everything they had at Kavanaugh, including a misleadingly edited video circulated by Sen. Kamala Harris and false accusations of perjury circulated by many Democrats. None of it stuck, in part because of rapid fact response by the administration, Kavanaugh's team, and non-liberal media.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 14, 2018 15 Comments
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has been on a roll. Together Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley, McConnell has sheparded through Democrat obstruction a total as of today of 84 Trump judicial nominees, including 15 last week in addition to Brett Kavanaugh. Included in that group are two Supreme Court justices, Gorsuch and Kavanaugh, and 29 Courts of Appeals judges.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 11, 2018 40 Comments
Fresh off his victory in confirming Brett Kavanaugh, Mitch McConnell forced stalling Democrats to agree to 15 more federal judicial confirmations in exchange for putting the Senate in recess so vulnerable Democrats could return home to campaign.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 08, 2018 26 Comments
Brett Kavanaugh was sworn in at the White House today, by Justice Anthony Kennedy, whom Kavanaugh replaces on the Court and for whom Kavanaugh clerked. Also in attendance were the other members of the Supreme Court.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 07, 2018 100 Comments
Mitch McConnell dropped a political nuclear bomb on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace. In discussing Senate confirmation of Supreme Court nominees, McConnell discussed how he did not allow Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland to go forward. He contrasted the Republican position with Democrats' attacks on Brett Kavanaugh by pointing out that Republicans didn't try to destroy Garland, they simply followed Senate tradition of not voting on a nominee in a presidential election year.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 06, 2018 160 Comments
Brett Kavanaugh has been confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court, 50-48. He has been sworn in, with a ceremonial swearing in likely Monday. He will take the bench Tuesday.

Posted by Mary Chastain on October 05, 2018 98 Comments
(Updated by WAJ) Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) voted to invoke cloture on the debate on Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh this morning. In one of the most extraordinarily intelligent and thoughtful speeches I've ever heard from the Senate floor or elsewhere, Collins announced that she would vote in favor of Kavanaugh.

Posted by Mary Chastain on October 05, 2018 4 Comments
The Senate voted 51-49 to invoke cloture, which limits the debate on Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh to 30 hours. This sets up a final confirmation vote on Saturday afternoon. Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski voted no while West Virginia Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin voted yes. Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ) also voted yes.

Posted by Mary Chastain on October 04, 2018 168 Comments
The FBI handed over its report on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh to the Senate Judiciary Committee. A source familiar with the report said that "it shows no evidence corroborating the allegations of sexual assault or misconduct against the nominee." The FBI also interviewed nine people and received a sworn statement from another.

Posted by Mary Chastain on October 02, 2018 57 Comments
Richard Vinneccy, the ex-boyfriend of Julie Swetnick, a woman who has accused Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct, told Laura Ingraham last night that she threatened his family and never spoke of any incidents involving Kavanaugh. He also said:
He added that while he was not aware of Swetnick's political tendencies, "She always wanted to be the center of attention. . .. She was exaggerating everything. Everything that came out of her mouth was just exaggerations."
If you missed Professor Jacobsen's write-up of Swetnick's awful NBC interview, you need to read it.

Posted by Mary Chastain on October 01, 2018 81 Comments
The drama surrounding Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh will continue for at least another week due to an investigation into the sexual assault claims against him. But it also means that every aspect of his life will now fall under the microscope, even if it has nothing to do with the sexual misconduct claims. Now people have materialized out of the woodwork to claim that Kavanaugh lied about his heavy drinking, yet it's nothing he denied in front of the committee. Also, Paul Sperry, a Hoover Institution media fellow, tweeted on Sunday night that one of Kavanaugh's classmates from Yale sent a tip to the Senate Judiciary Committee that a fraternity brother may have exposed himself to Deborah Ramirez, the second woman who accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 01, 2018 66 Comments
The examination of Christine Blasey Ford by Arizona Sex Crimes Prosecutor Rachel Mitchell failed as a television event, but revealed many important details, casting serious doubt on Ford's claim that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in the summer of 1982. Mitchell has now produced a detailed analysis, and it devastates Ford's credibility and reliability.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 29, 2018 34 Comments
Someone leaked Christine Blasey Ford's letter to Dianne Feinstein to the media, setting off the current firestorm surrounding Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation. Kavanaugh has denied the accusation of assault set forth in the letter, and vigorously defended himself at the hearings. Each of the people Ford has identified as being present during the party in question has denied being at such party.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 27, 2018 205 Comments
Brett Kavanaugh's testimony is over. I assessed Christine Ford's testimony earlier, Mid-Hearing Assessment: Christine Blasey Ford believes an untruth. I heard Kavanaugh's opening statement, but missed over half of his question and answer because of another commitment. So I've been catching up via Twitter, highlights and reports. I think I have a good sense of how it went.
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