The Latest: Liberals rally on court steps against Kavanaugh

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump’s nomination of a Supreme Court justice (all times local):

10:30 p.m.

Democratic lawmakers and liberal groups are holding a raucous late-night rally on the steps of the Supreme Court to oppose President Trump’s nominee, Brett Kavanaugh.

The rally began shortly after Trump’s 9 p.m. Monday announcement and included chants of “Hell no on Kavanaugh.” The speakers say the nominee poses a threat to abortion rights and health care protections.

Several senators seen as possible White House candidates in 2020 addressed the crowd, including Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

Merkley says, “This nomination tonight is all about power over the people. … I can tell you this is the most political of possible appointments. This is a nominee who wants to pave the path to tyranny.”

0:25 p.m.

Three Democratic senators facing tough re-election campaigns in strongly pro-Trump states are reacting cautiously to President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court choice.

West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin is shedding the most light on his views about Judge Brett Kavanaugh.

Manchin says the Obama-era health care law provides crucial protections to 800,000 constituents with pre-existing medical conditions, so he says he wants to know Kavanaugh’s views on that statute. Some Democrats say based on Trump’s past statements, he’d favor a nominee leaning toward eviscerating that 2010 statute.

North Dakotan Heidi Heitkamp says she’ll “thoroughly review and vet” Kavanaugh’s record. And Indiana’s Joe Donnelly says he’ll weigh Kavanaugh’s “record and qualifications.”

Trump announced his nomination of Kavanaugh on Monday evening. He won each of the three states in 2016 by landslides.

https:// apnews.com/ae9330694da8476e82a97b4cd472d8e2

>>2100740

Red-state Democratic senators refuse Trump's invite to White House Supreme Court announcement

By Sarah Westwood, Lauren Fox and Daniella Diaz, CNN

Updated 6:42 PM ET, Mon July 9, 2018

Washington (CNN)Four red-state Democrats refused President Donald Trump's invitation to attend his Supreme Court nominee announcement Monday night at the White House, according to their offices.

Democratic Sens. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Doug Jones of Alabama, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Joe Donnelly of Indiana were invited for the announcement.

"Sen. Heitkamp was invited but isn't able to attend tonight," her spokesperson said in a statement. "She has made clear – as she said to the President in person two weeks ago – that she considers fully vetting Supreme Court nominees one of the most important jobs of any U.S. senator, and she plans to fulfill that critical duty."

Manchin's spokesperson also said he wasn't planning to attend and the senator said later in a tweet that he appreciated the invitation from Trump.

"I appreciate the President inviting me to attend tonight's announcement at the WH," Manchin said in the tweet. "I look forward to meeting the nominee in a setting where we can discuss his or her experience, judicial philosophy & perspective on access to healthcare for WVians with pre-existing conditions."

One red-state Democratic senator up for re-election this year – Sen. Jon Tester of Montana – told reporters on Monday that he was not invited to the White House for Monday's ceremony, but added he's open to voting to one of the nominees.

Maine Sen. Susan Collins, a key Republican vote, was also invited to the White House but is not going, she said Monday. She would not comment on any of the finalists to reporters.

This story has been updated with additional developments.

https:// www.cnn.com/2018/07/09/politics/red-state-democrats-donald-trump-supreme-court-invitation-announcement/index.html

>>2100779

25m ago

23:02

Senator John McCain, a Republican from Arizona who is battling brain cancer, released a statement on Trump’s supreme court choice

In selecting Judge Brett Kavanaugh to fill the vacancy left by Justice Kennedy, President Trump has chosen a nominee with impeccable credentials and a strong record of upholding the Constitution. Over the course of Judge Kavanaugh’s impressive legal career, he has built a reputation as a fair, independent, and mainstream judge who has earned widespread respect from his peers. One of the Senate’s highest constitutional responsibilities is to provide advice and consent on nominations to the Supreme Court, and I look forward to the Senate fulfilling this critical duty through a fair and thorough confirmation process.

https:// www.theguardian.com/law/live/2018/jul/09/supreme-court-trump-nominee-latest-news-updates-hardiman-barrett-justice-decision

39m ago

22:50

Trump is known to harbor suspicions about people he believes are loyal to his predecessor, George W. Bush. In the run-up to Kavanaugh nomination, some analysts predicted that the judge’s tenure working for the Bush administration could be a red flag for this president as he made his decision. But clearly Trump was able to look past that.

The Daily Beast has some reporting on why that might be in this case.

But if Trump considered Kavanaugh’s backing from Scalia-world, he also surely knew of his roots in the George W. Bush White House. Asked how Kavanaugh might’ve overcome that perception, one senior administration official pointed to his work on Kenneth Starr’s investigation of President Bill Clinton—and subsequent disavowal of criminal and civil investigations into sitting presidents.

Trump, who is staring down both a federal criminal investigation and a number of civil lawsuits, likely noticed the latter position, the administration official said. “It’s a twofer,” the official joked. In Trump’s mind, “he manages to be both anti-Clinton and anti-Mueller.”

Bernie Sanders, independent of Vermont, responded to the announcement in a Facebook video in which he asked supporters to join the fight to block Kavanaugh from reaching the supreme court.

He added in a statement: “I do not believe a person with those views should be given a lifetime seat on the Supreme Court. We must mobilize the American people to defeat Trump’s right-wing, reactionary nominee.”

Kirsten Gillibrand, Democrat of New York, also plans to oppose Kavanaugh.

This new judge could be the deciding vote in whether insurance companies can charge people more, or don’t have to cover them at all anymore, if they have preexisting conditions — and nearly half of all New Yorkers have a preexisting condition. He could be the deciding vote to uphold the disastrous Citizens United decision, which allowed corporations to pour unlimited money into our politics. And he could be the deciding vote in overturning Roe v. Wade, which is what President Trump said he wanted his new Supreme Court Justice to do.

Will Trump get a third supreme court pick?

Sam Morris and Juweek Adolphe

With the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh for supreme court justice, Trump is set to cement his significant influence on the highest court in the land. Once Kavanaugh is confirmed, the probable outcome given the Republican controlled Senate, Trump will have made as many appointments in two years as Barack Obama did in two full terms.

The result of those nominations has left us with a supreme court that leans towards the right, with a majority of sitting justices nominated by Republican presidents. This wind of change brings a conservative sway for decades that will only get stronger if Trump, who is not even halfway into his first term, could secure a third pick.

The deadline

A position on the supreme court becomes available when one of the nine sitting justices resigns, retires or dies. Once a position becomes vacant, the president nominates someone whom the Senate will then either confirm or reject. It took four months for Neil Gorsuch, Trump’s first pick for the supreme court, to be confirmed. In order for Trump to lock down a third pick, a spot would have open up by July 2020, before the election in November of that year.

So whose spot is most likely to be vacated?

Breyer crosses the average retirement age

Justice Anthony Kennedy, whose recently announced retirement created the spot for Kavanaugh, retired at 81 – an age Breyer will hit before 2020. Kennedy's retirement was far from an outlier, with 80 being the average retirement age for the last 11 justices. There's a slim chance that Breyer might want to do the same. However, given his history of voting with the liberal end of the bench, he'll more than likely try to hold on and hand his position off to a Democratic president.

READ MORE:https:// www.theguardian.com/law/ng-interactive/2018/jul/09/supreme-court-justice-trump-third-pick-possible

>>2101069

Yeah it's at the top of every thread. Scroll up moron and click on Notables previous to this bread. Any number your interested in will take you to the last bread.

Lurk more. Quit using this as a FB chatroom. Your pathetic suggestions are sloppy and a waste.

>>2101095

Off your meds again tonight I see.