DEMS/SUPREME COURT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Democrats on Thursday [6-28-18] weighed how to block a Supreme Court nominee with the potential to reshape the court for a generation, as the White House considered its options for one of the most consequential decisions of Donald Trump’s presidency. The retirement announcement Wednesday of Justice Anthony Kennedy gives Mr. Trump his second Supreme Court pick, but the first with the possibility of replacing a swing vote with a consistent conservative. Mr. Trump has pledged to pick from a list of 25 candidates drawn up by conservative allies. The outcome will almost certainly shift the court’s balance of power, with activists on both sides highlighting the future of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that broadly established a woman’s right to an abortion as one of the most heated questions at stake. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) intends to seek confirmation of the president’s pick this fall, and he and other Republican leaders will have only a slender majority to work with. The GOP controls 51 Senate seats, one of which is held by Arizona Sen. John McCain, who is battling an aggressive form of brain cancer. Senate Democrats have had mixed results under such circumstances. They failed to block Mr. Trump’s first Supreme Court pick, Neil Gorsuch —who replaced another conservative, justice Antonin Scalia—as three of their own members supported the nomination.”
-Louise Radnofsky, “With Trump Supreme Court Coming, Democrats Weigh Strategy,” The Wall Street Journal, June 28, 2018 5:21 pm