McConnell works feverishly behind the scenes to save Kavanaugh
The Senate leader's legacy on the judiciary is on the line.
By BURGESS EVERETT and JOHN BRESNAHAN 09/17/2018 10:02 PM EDT
Mitch McConnell, preeminent cut-throat political tactician, is going with a softer touch to salvage Brett Kavanaugh’s suddenly endangered Supreme Court confirmation.
With Kavanaugh’s seemingly slam-dunk elevation to the Supreme Court facing resistance from a handful of key GOP senators, McConnell convened a marathon meeting with Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans and his leadership team on Monday. Holed up for nearly two hours in McConnell's Senate office, they devised a process to satisfy Kavanaugh’s defenders and appease Republicans uncomfortable with forging ahead until the nominee’s accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, gets a full public hearing.
The majority leader was calm and even-keeled throughout the session, making clear he's 100 percent behind Kavanaugh and never suggesting the party bail on the nomination, according to interviews with more than a half-dozen GOP senators close to McConnell. He and the party committed to following Senate and committee rules, noticing a hearing for Ford and Kavanaugh to appear in a week, rather than trying to change precedent and rush a hearing this week.
Getting Kavanaugh through the Senate is “a big deal for him. But he wants to make sure there’s a process that’s fair and gives Ms. Ford an opportunity to be heard,” said Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, the No. 3 GOP leader, of McConnell. “He’s very committed to trying to get this Supreme Court position filled as soon as possible.”
McConnell is having to balance several competing factors: Republicans furious that Ford’s allegation was made public so late in the process, especially since Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, was first contacted by Ford in July; a president who has faced repeated allegations of mistreating women himself; and the possibility that Republicans could lose control of the Senate in the midterms.
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https://www.politico.com/story/2018/09/17/mcconnell-kavanaugh-allegations-confirmation-826496
= new reply since forum marked as read
...is spectacularly backfiring now!
