Alabama Democrat keeping an open mind on Trump’s SCOTUS pick

If the decision is made permanent, it would lead to higher premiums.

President Trump is expected to announce his choice for the Supreme Court Monday night, and the moment the nominee is announced, the battle for confirmation will begin. The president also has been considering federal appeals court Judges Raymond Kethledge and Thomas Hardiman. But the situation appeared to remain fluid. The White House prepared briefing materials on all four.

Democrats say McConnell is being hypocritical in moving forward with the nomination.

“This is a nightmare for red-state Democrats to oppose a highly qualified nominee, and all four of these people are highly qualified, been on the court, know what they’re doing, mainstream judges”, Graham said. Getting a nominee through takes time.

Former Sen. Jon Kyl will guide President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee through the Senate confirmation process. Gorsuch, who worked at the Justice Department in 2005 and 2006, had a smaller set of executive branch documents for review. At the top of that list is abortion.

In recent years the Supreme Court has made landmark decisions on fundamental and often politically charged issues ranging from same-sex marriage, abortion, gun rights, corporate money in elections, and free speech.

All three voted to confirm Gorsuch and are up for re-election in states that Trump won handily. Kennedy provided a decisive vote in 2015 on an important fair housing case. “He is a superb pick with a clear record of very thoughtful, erudite, principled decisions”, John Malcolm, vice president of the Heritage Foundation’s Institute for Constitutional Government told Newsweek. Because of all that and his demeanor, the monastic Kethledge is referred among White House aides, Time notes, as “Gorsuch 2.0”. But the process of vetting the nominee will start right away. Kennedy will retire at the end of July after serving since February 1988. He works for Washington-based lobbying firm Covington & Burling.

The White House noted Kyl served on the Senate Judiciary Committee “during the confirmations of 4 of the last 5 justices who have joined the Supreme Court”. He is hoping to replicate his successful announcement of Justice Neil Gorsuch a year ago. Few have had any sleep in Bedminster, N.J., as deliberations continue over the pros and cons of the potential nominees, and no one is sure which way the president is going to go, the source said.

Conservative judicial advocates say the judicial appointments are correcting the leftward tilt of the bench. Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Joe Manchin of West Virginia. She’s just been a federal judge for about a year.

Maine Sen. Susan Collins, a key Republican vote, was also invited to the White House but is not going, she said Monday. His boosters, sensing this weekend that Hardiman could be ascending on the president’s list, have been busy making phone calls to friends in Trump’s inner circle.

“That’s what we’re up against here”, Schumer said.

However, Maryanne Trump Barry, Trump’s sister who also serves as a federal judge, has supported Hardiman-whom she served with on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia.

Hardiman went to Notre Dame and Georgetown.

Kavanaugh is a former clerk to Anthony Kennedy, and was the principle author of the Ken Starr report on Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky. But his supporters cite his experience and wide range of legal opinions.