On July 9, Trump announced his selection of Kavanaugh, a District of Columbia circuit judge, to replace the retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy. National pro-life activists have been generally pleased but not entirely convinced of his credentials, while Democrats and left-wing voices have bitterly denounced him.
Kavanaugh’s confirmation, which Senate GOP leaders have promised will take place this fall, is expected to be even more contentious than the president’s nomination of Justice Neil Gorsuch, who was replacing the late Antonin Scalia, another conservative. Kennedy, by contrast, was a pro-abortion, pro-gay judicial activist whose replacement threatens to shift the balance of the Supreme Court.
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