Colorado Dems, activists blast Kavanaugh nomination; GOP jubilant

WASHINGTON | President Donald Trump chose Brett Kavanaugh, a politically connected conservative judge, for the Supreme Court Monday, setting up a ferocious confirmation battle with Democrats as he seeks to shift the nation’s highest court further to the right.

A favorite of the Republican legal establishment in Washington, Kavanaugh, 53, is a former law clerk for retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy. Like Trump’s first nominee last year, Justice Neil Gorsuch, Kavanaugh would be a young addition who could help remake the court for decades to come with rulings that could restrict abortion, expand gun rights and roll back key parts of Obamacare.

“There is no one in America more qualified for this position and no one more deserving,” said Trump, who called Kavanaugh “one of the sharpest legal minds of our time.”

With Kavanaugh, Trump is replacing a swing vote on the nine-member court with a staunch conservative. Kavanaugh, who serves on the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, is expected to be less receptive to abortion and gay rights than Kennedy was. He also has taken an expansive view of executive power and has favored limits on investigating the president.

The move set off a flurry of polarized comments on the nomination from Colorado activists and officials.

“A vote for Brett Kavanaugh is a vote to impose an extreme right-wing agenda on the country for a generation,” said Colorado Democratic Party Chairwoman Morgan Carroll in a statement. “An agenda that includes criminalizing women and doctors by overturning Roe v. Wade and gutting affordable health care for millions.”

Liberal activists across the state blasted the nomination.

“President Trump continues to pursue his anti-LGBTQ agenda with his nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court,” said One Colorado Executive Director Daniel Ramos in a statement. “With this nomination, basic rights and protections LGBTQ Coloradans rely on are now at serious risk — including the ability to adopt and foster children, protection from discrimination in employment, housing, and public spaces; and the ability to get health insurance even if you have a pre-existing condition.”

Colorado abortion rights activists also gave dire warnings about the nomination, asking Colorado Senators to fight against it.

“President Trump has said he will only nominate Justices who will overturn and gut Roe v. Wade,” said NARAL Colorado Executive Director Karen Middleton in a statement, “and we take him at his word. Judge Kavanaugh recently argued that a young immigrant woman, despite meeting all of Texas’ burdensome requirements to get an abortion, should not be able to exercise her right to choose to terminate her pregnancy. He has also argued against contraception coverage under the Affordable Care Act.

“These arguments are not consistent with Colorado values. Colorado is a pro-choice state that strongly supports the right to choose abortion established in Roe v. Wade. Colorado’s US Senators Gardner and Bennet must not just oppose, but actively work to block Judge Kavanaugh from being confirmed to the Court.  The rights and lives of Colorado women depend on it.”

Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner did not immediately back nor object to the nomination.

“I look forward to meeting soon with Judge Kavanaugh,” Gardner said in a statement. “I hope my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will thoughtfully and thoroughly review this individual during the confirmation process and carefully consider him rather than making a knee-jerk decision based on politics and nothing else.”

Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet said focusing a replacement only from a list created by right-wing ideologues was a mistake from the beginning.

“When Justice Kennedy announced his retirement, I urged the President to appoint a consensus nominee who could earn broad bipartisan support in the Senate and the confidence of the American people,” Bennet said in a statement. “Instead, he chose a nominee whose ideology would shift the Court’s majority, thereby threatening fundamental rights and failing to check executive power. As a result, I have grave concerns about this nomination.”

Colorado Democratic Congressman and gubernatorial candidate Jared Polis said the move makes protecting state abortion rights more important than ever.

“We will have to work harder than ever to defend women’s reproductive choice,” Polis said in a tweet. 

Republican State Treasurer and GOP gubernatorial nominee Walker Stapleton was non-committal like Gardner.

“I look forward to learning more about him in the days ahead,” Stapleton said in a Tweet. “It is important that we have judges who do not legislate from the bench and adhere to our Constitution.

While the bulk of objections focused on gay and abortion rights, some Colorado lawmakers expressed worry over Supreme Court decisions on the environment.

“We can’t allow a Supreme Court nominee handpicked by the far-right and special interests to determine the future of our country,” said Colorado House Majority Leader Becker, D-Boulder. “Colorado cannot afford an anti-environment justice who could roll back protections for the air we breathe and of our public lands. We won’t back down now and urge our Senators to delay this vote.”

Top ranking state Republican officials were jubilant over the nomination.

“Tonight, Republicans across Colorado are once again celebrating the fact that Donald Trump, not Hillary Clinton, won the election in November 2016,” Colorado GOP Chairman Jeff Hays said in an statement.  “Elections have consequences. One consequence of President Trump’s election will be yet another Supreme Court Justice who interprets the Constitution according to its original meaning. Judge Brett Kavanaugh will make an outstanding Justice.”

A senior White House official said Trump made his final decision on the nomination Sunday evening, then phoned Kavanaugh to inform him.

The official said Trump decided on Kavanaugh, a front-runner throughout the search process, because of his large body of jurisprudence cited by other courts, describing him as a judge that other judges read.

On Monday, Trump phoned retiring Justice Kennedy to inform him that his former law clerk would be nominated to fill his seat. Trump signed Kavanaugh’s nomination papers Monday evening in the White House residence.

Top contenders had included federal appeals judges Raymond Kethledge, Amy Coney Barrett and Thomas Hardiman. Relishing the guessing game beyond the White House gates, Trump had little to say about his choice before the announcement.

Some conservatives have expressed concerns about Kavanaugh, questioning his commitment to social issues like abortion and noting his time serving under President George W. Bush as evidence he is a more establishment choice. But his supporters have cited his experience and wide range of legal opinions.

Ahead of his announcement, Trump tweeted about the stakes: “I have long heard that the most important decision a U.S. President can make is the selection of a Supreme Court Justice – Will be announced tonight at 9:00 P.M.”

With Democrats determined to vigorously oppose Trump’s choice, the Senate confirmation battle is expected to dominate the months leading up to November’s midterm elections. Senate Republicans hold only a 51-49 majority, leaving them hardly any margin if Democrats hold the line. Democratic senators running for re-election in states Trump carried in 2016 will face pressure to back his nominee.

Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana said he was bracing for a tough confirmation battle as Democrats focus on abortion. Kennedy, a member of the Judiciary Committee, which will get the first chance to question the nominee, predicted a “rough, tough, down in the dirt, ear-pulling, nose-biting fight.”

Trump’s success in confirming conservative judges, as well as a Supreme Court justice, has cheered Republicans amid concerns about his limited policy achievements and chaotic management style. Of the court’s liberal justices, Ruth Bader Ginsburg is 85 and Stephen Breyer turns 80 next month, so Trump may well get another opportunity to cement conservative dominance of the court for years to come.

Kavanaugh is likely to be more conservative than Justice Kennedy on a range of social issues. At the top of that list is abortion. A more conservative majority could be more willing to uphold state restrictions on abortion, if not overturn the 45-year-old landmark Roe v. Wade decision that established a woman’s constitutional right.

Kennedy’s replacement also could be more willing to allow states to carry out executions and could support undoing earlier court holdings in the areas of racial discrimination in housing and the workplace. Kennedy provided a decisive vote in 2015 on an important fair housing case.

While the president has been pondering his choice, his aides have been preparing for what is expected to be a tough confirmation fight. The White House said Monday that former Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl would guide Trump’s nominee through the grueling Senate process.

Kyl, a former member of Republican leadership, served on the Senate Judiciary Committee before retiring in 2013. He works for the Washington-based lobbying firm Covington & Burling. The White House hopes Kyl’s close ties to Senate Republicans will help smooth the path for confirmation.

Trump is hoping to replicate his successful nomination of Justice Gorsuch last year. The president spent the days leading up to his announcement discussing the pros and cons of various contenders with aides and allies.

The White House invited a number of senators to attend the Monday night announcement, including Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and committee member Kennedy.

Democrats who were invited but declined included Sens. Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Doug Jones of Alabama, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Dianne Feinstein of California. Feinstein is the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee. The others are Republican targets for the confirmation vote who come from Trump-won states where they face re-election this fall.

Kavanaugh is expected to meet in coming days with senators at their offices, going door-to-door in get-to-know-you sessions ahead of confirmation hearings.

Democrats have turned their attention to pressuring two Republicans, Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, to oppose any nominee who threatens Roe v. Wade. The two have supported access to abortion services.

One Democrat up for re-election, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, announced Monday he would oppose any nominee from Trump’s list of 25 possible candidates, drafted by conservative groups. He called it the “fruit of a corrupt process straight from the D.C. swamp.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said opponents were using “40-year-old scare tactics” over abortion and other issues but they “will not stop us from doing the right thing.”

___

Associated Press writer Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.