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U.S. Constitution See other U.S. Constitution Articles Title: Fox News: Kavanaugh and Kethledge new SCOTUS frontrunners?
Source:
HotAir
URL Source: https://hotair.com/archives/2018/07 ... ledge-new-scotus-frontrunners/
Published: Jul 5, 2018
Author: Allahpundit
Post Date: 2018-07-05 14:08:39 by Tooconservative
Keywords: None Views: 8241
Comments: 54
Three days ago the alleged finalists were Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, but that was before Trump began interviewing shortlisters. And the interview with Raymond Kethledge reportedly went very, very well. .@FoxNews is told that @realDonaldTrump has completed the interview process for his @USSupremeCourt pick. Raymond Kethledge and Brett Kavanaugh are said to be the front-runners to replace Justice Kennedy. Announcement Monday night. John Roberts (@johnrobertsFox) July 5, 2018 |
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cf/Judge_Raymond_Kethledge.png/440px-Judge_Raymond_Kethledge.png) Judge Raymond Kethledge | If anyones well positioned to know that the winds have changed in the West Wing, its a Fox News reporter. And if anythings likely to boost a shortlister overnight, its making a good face-to-face impression on Trump. A more ideological president might look past that sort of thing to more nuts-and-bolts concerns about the nominees jurisprudence, but with Trump personal chemistry is key. A White House official involved in vetting the nominees told Axios that Trumps likely to tilt towards who he feels most comfortable with in a personal setting, which would explain Kethledges stock rising. Although in fairness to POTUS, its not like Kethledge is any weaker ideologically than the competition. If Trump can get someone whom he likes personally and whom righties will like on the bench, so much the better. An interesting footnote via Politico: Apparently Ted Cruz is bearish on Kavanaugh. Conservatives have also fixated on a 2011 challenge to Obamacare in which Kavanaugh ruled that the individual mandate functioned as a tax and invoked an 1867 law preventing individuals from challenging taxes before they have gone into effect. (The individual mandate went into effect in 2014.) But he also advised that, whatever its constitutional shortcomings, Congress could eliminate any such potential problem.
On a call with associates on Monday, Cruz warned that Kavanaugh is the sort of unreliable jurist by whom Republicans have been disappointed in the past, and he has worked to bolster the prospects of his colleague, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah). Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) also spoke to the president about the merits and drawbacks of each nominee, including Kavanaugh. | Cruz can stump for Lee all he wants but Lees not going to be the nominee and may not even be in serious contention. Whats his beef with Kavanaugh, though? It must be more than that one ObamaCare ruling, which Kavanaugh defenders like Ed Whelan have argued has been misunderstood. Whats strange about Cruzs opposition is that he and Kavanaugh have had parallel careers to some extent. Theyre roughly the same age (Kavanaughs a few years older), both Ivy League law grads, both Supreme Court clerks, both worked on the Florida recount in 2000, both served in the Bush administration in Dubyas first term. Theyve come out of the same conservative professional legal culture and that culture is very high on Kavanaugh. If anything, youd think Cruz would be out in front recommending him as the next best choice after Lee. Is there history between the two that explains his chilliness? As for Barretts stock dipping, maybe her interview with Trump didnt go as well as Kethledges did. Possibly Trump is worried that Barretts reputation, fair or not, as a pro-life warrior will end up spooking Collins and Murkowski and hell be dealt an embarrassing defeat in confirmation. Or maybe hes calculating that hell get to appoint Ginsburgs successor and wants to save a woman nominee for that spot, knowing that public pressure to fill Ginsburgs seat with a female will be particularly intense. Its unlike him to pass on a chance to instigate a nationwide culture-war street fight, which is what nominating Barrett would do. But if anything could make that fight more vicious, waiting to nominate Barrett as a replacement for the lefts feminist hero would do it. It would be a supreme act of clawing back cultural territory from the other side, practically a provocation. Maybe hell announce The Purge on the same day and let Americans really have it out for a day or two. Or maybe Barretts stock hasnt dipped. Per WaPo, shes one of three finalists, not two: back on the SCOTUS search beat today. The top 3 contenders as of 9:30 a.m., per GOP and WH sources: Kavanaugh, Kethledge, Coney Barrett Robert Costa (@costareports) July 5, 2018 | Id wager on Kethledge. If its true that people like Cruz are warning Trump about Kavanaugh, Trumps not going to roll the dice on him. The one thing hes done as president thats united the right entirely was appoint Neil Gorsuch; naturally he wants another nominee in that mold, not someone whos going to attract ominous grumbles from movement conservatives from the start and maybe end up knifing conservatives on a major case while on the bench. Kethledge seems to be a safer pick despite a last-minute effort by some border hawks to paint him as soft on immigration. Theres a piece answering that charge at NRO today thats worth your while. One last thing per Axios: Although Trump has said hell announce the nominee on Monday, sources say they wouldnt be surprised if he changed his mind and broke the news early once hes settled on someone. Dont wander too far from a computer or TV over the next few days. |
Poster Comment: Ted Cruz doesn't want Kavanagh but hasn't threatened to vote him down (yet). Rand Paul is threatening to vote against Kavanagh over his actions during the Bush years. And Barrett is probably too pro-life to get past Collins/Murkowski. It looks like Kethledge at this point. And he has most of the personal qualities that Gorsuch has (hunter, fisherman, Michigander) and is considered to have a more polished style in Senate hearings and Kethledge is considered more appealing than Gorsuch to people who know them both. And that personal style factor means a lot with Trump. Kethledge is a better bet to sail through Senate hearings flawlessly than either Barrett or Kavanagh.
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