DEMS/SUPREME COURT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “When the conservative lawyer Neomi Rao appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee this week, she’ll be interviewing for a job on the country’s second most powerful court. But both her allies and enemies will be watching with something even bigger in mind: her viability as a future Supreme Court nominee. Growing buzz on the right about Rao, a legal scholar and Trump administration regulatory official, has raised the stakes of her Tuesday [2-5-19] confirmation hearing to replace Brett Kavanaugh on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. Republicans expect Democrats to contest Rao’s nomination with particular energy given what White House allies call the prospect that the 45-year-old former law professor could be on deck for a Supreme Court seat. A recent Wall Street Journal editorial said the left is intent on publicly ‘destroying’ her. White House aides and outside conservatives close to the president have been quietly helping Rao prepare for her confirmation hearing for weeks. Working with White House lawyers and communications staffers, Rao has been practicing her testimony and preparing answers to sharp questions about her experience and her record shaping regulations on behalf of the president.”
-Andrew Restuccia, Gabby Orr and Anita Kumar, “Dems hope to draw blood from potential Trump SCOTUS pick,” Politico, February 4, 2019 5:07 am