WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, mapped out strategy with Republican leaders Tuesday, launching a fierce confirmation battle that could remake the court for decades and roil the midterm elections in the meantime.
Kavanaugh, a favorite of the GOP establishment, first huddled with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. He was then meeting with Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the Judiciary Committee chairman. Joining him were Vice President Mike Pence and former Sen. Jon Kyl, seeking the GOP backing he will need to be confirmed in the divided Senate.
Republicans have reacted positively to Trump’s pick, but McConnell has little margin of error in the final vote unless a few Democrats can be brought onboard. Republicans hold a slim 51-49 Senate majority, and pressure is mounting on Democrats from states that Trump won in 2016 to cross party lines for support.
McConnell called Kavanaugh “one of the most thoughtful jurists” in the country and blasted Democrats as “eager to try and turn judicial confirmations into something like political elections.” The GOP leader warned against engaging in “cheap political fear-mongering.”
The morning after he was nominated to become the next Supreme Court Justice, Brett Kavanaugh visited Capitol Hill to meet with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Republican Senators. Democrats are promising a fierce confirmation fight.
“We’ll hear all kinds of fantastic stories about the pain and suffering that this perfectly qualified, widely respected judge will somehow unleash on America if we confirm him to the court,” McConnell said.
Pence called Kavanaugh a “good man.”
