Heather Curtis
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON (WMAL) – President Donald Trump is expected to make good on his campaign promise to choose a very conservative nominee to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy.
“I would be flabbergasted if President Trump did not select someone more conservative than Justice Kennedy,” said Constitutional law expert Jonathan Turley with George Washington University. “He has been consistent on delivering on all of his promises, and this was the promise he made the most often to his base.”
While Justice Kennedy has been a moderate swing vote, Turley said the justice voted with conservatives in a reliable fashion with the exception of cases dealing with individual rights.
Many, including Sen. Chuck Schumer, believe women’s reproductive rights are now in danger because the court will overturn Roe v. Wade. While Turley doesn’t think the court itself will make a frontal attack on Roe, he believes pro-life groups will be looking for cases to put in the pipeline that would chip away at protections offered by the landmark 1973 ruling.
During the confirmation hearings, Turley said the big question is going to be how the Republican senators weigh in on the nomination.
“Privately many of the Republicans, even pro-life Republicans, do not want to see Roe v. Wade tossed out,” said Turley. “There’s a great fear that they could lose suburban moms over that issue.”
This could lead the president to choose a nominee who doesn’t have a lot of publicly stated positions on Roe, according to Turley.
President Trump said his search for a new justice will begin immediately.
“The most important thing for the White House is speed,” said Turley.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the Senate will vote on President Trump’s nominee this fall. Turley said Republicans need to confirm the nominee before the midterm elections.
“They are not going to allow themselves to be Garland. They invented Garlanding people,” Turley said referring to the obstruction by Republicans of President Barack Obama’s nominee Merrick Garland.
When Garland was nominated, 60 votes were required to confirm a Supreme Court nominee. That number was changed to 51 votes during Neil Gorsuch’s confirmation.
The death of the filibuster means Democrats can’t do much to block the nominee according to Turley.
If a nominee is not confirmed before the first Monday in October, the court’s next term will start with only eight justices.
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