Former White House counsel Don McGahn denied the notion that there was ever any “hesitancy” from President Trump to nominate Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court.
Margaret Brennan, the moderator of CBS’s Face the Nation, asked McGahn why Barrett was not chosen over now-Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2018.
“I disagree there is any hesitancy or pause the last time. She was a relatively new federal judge. She was placed on a shortlist. The public found out about the shortlist because it was publicly announced. The process has really been transparent. I recall, the president, even as a candidate, put out not one, but two, lists of judges who could be on the Supreme Court,” McGahn said on Sunday.
“He’s updated it a few times since. So I think that, at the time, Brett Kavanaugh was the right person at the right time. And I think Judge Amy Barrett is the right person at the right time now,” he added.
Trump nominated Barrett, a judge on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, to the high court on Saturday to fill the vacancy left by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died at the age of 87, roughly 10 days ago. When Trump selected Kavanaugh in 2018 to fill the vacancy from retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy, he said of Barrett, “I’m saving her for Ruth’s seat,” a Republican Senate staffer told the Washington Examiner.
McGahn resigned from his position at the White House after Kavanaugh was confirmed to the high court in the fall of 2018 following a contentious confirmation process. Among the former counsel’s achievements are two Supreme Court appointments, including Trump’s first pick, Justice Neil Gorsuch.
The departure also came after McGahn allegedly refused Trump’s order to fire special counsel Robert Mueller during his Russia investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Trump has denied this was true.
Whatever bad blood there may have been when McGahn left the White House, he said he believes Trump has earned four more years in office.
“I think if you look at his record, he does [deserve another term]. He had the economy going wonderfully, he made a number of promises on the campaign trail that he kept. One is judicial selection, which he’s done. He set a record number of judges on there, on the circuit courts. And this really matters,” McGahn said.
