President Trump’s nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to replace retiring Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy has set the stage for a bruising confirmation battle, as Senate Democrats and liberal groups vowed to resist what could be a dramatic and long-lasting rightward shift on the Supreme Court.
Within seconds of Trump’s announcement in the White House Monday night, the far-left political action committee Democracy for America called Kavanaugh, 53, a “reactionary ideologue” whose confirmation would “directly lead to the deaths of countless women with the dismantling of abortion rights.”
And in a statement, the Women’s March said ominously: “Trump’s announcement today is a death sentence for thousands of women in the United States.”
“Stripping a woman’s ability to make decisions about her own body is state violence,” the group continued. “We cannot let this stand. We will raise our voices and take to the streets.”
In an embarrassing blunder, though, the Women’s March statement began: “In response to Donald Trump’s nomination of XX to the Supreme Court” — indicating that the group didn’t expect to have to change its pre-written press release much on Monday night.
“Trump’s announcement today is a death sentence for thousands of women in the United States.”
– Women’s March statement
The mood outside the Supreme Court soured quickly throughout the evening, as protesters screamed and jostled in a markedly hostile atmosphere after Trump announced his selection.
Kavanaugh, who is Catholic and formerly served as a law clerk for Kennedy, has long said he would broadly respect legal precedent, including Roe v. Wade. In his time in the Bush White House and his twelve-year stint on the influential D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, Kavanaugh has variously alarmed both pro-life and pro-choice advocates.
Top Senate Democrats, who have long said they would not seriously consider any of the candidates Trump was considering, also vowed to fight Kavanaugh, citing what they called an anti-abortion record.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called for killing the nomination.
“If we can successfully block this nomination, it could lead to a more independent, moderate selection that both parties could support,” Schumer said.
He continued: “In selecting Judge Brett Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court, President Trump has put reproductive rights and freedoms and health care protections for millions of Americans on the judicial chopping block.”
All eyes Monday night were on moderate Republicans including Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, as well as several red-state Democrats, including…
