In the wake of Justice Anthony Kennedy’s bombshell announcement Wednesday that he would be retiring from the U.S. Supreme Court, outside groups have wasted no time mobilizing their backers to drum up support for — or opposition to — President Trump’s next nominee to the high court.
Kennedy’s retirement, effective July 31, sets Trump up to name a second justice to the high court in so many years. But with the Supreme Court now losing its swing vote, Trump’s replacement for Kennedy is expected to shift the ideological leanings of the Supreme Court to the Right.
Conservative organizations, many of which devoted resources to backing Justice Neil Gorsuch’s confirmation during last year’s Supreme Court fight, are targeting vulnerable Senate Democrats up for re-election in states Trump carried.
Judicial Crisis Network, a conservative judicial group, launched a seven-figure ad campaign on Thursday aimed at ramping up the pressure on those red state Democrats.
“President Trump’s list includes the best of the best,” the ad states. “And with your help, America with get another star on the Supreme Court.”
The group was a major presence in the last battle for the Supreme Court, spending $10 million to support Gorsuch’s confirmation.
“Like Justice Gorsuch, all of the men and women on President Trump’s judicial list are the best and brightest in their field. They are fair and independent judges with records of listening to the arguments of both sides in the courtroom, delivering well-reasoned decisions, fairly applying the law and honoring the Constitution,” Carrie Severino, Judicial Crisis Network’s chief counsel and policy director, said in a statement. “Like Justice Gorsuch, each one of them has the wisdom and experience necessary to sit on the Supreme Court from day one.”
Like Judicial Crisis Network, Americans for Prosperity, a conservative grassroots organization, said it is committed to spending at least $1 million to support a nominee similar to Gorsuch.
The group, backed by Republican megadonors Charles and David Koch, has spent the past six months preparing its activists for a vacancy on the high court, having launched an effort in January focusing on the federal judiciary.
Trump said he intends to select a nominee to the Supreme Court from a list of 25 contenders released by the White House, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., plans to hold a vote confirming the next justice by the fall.
That timeline sets up a major political battle just before the November midterm elections.
Seizing on the timing, and the position of vulnerable Senate Democrats, an organization aligned with McConnell launched a multi-state ad campaign focusing on the vacancy.
The first batch of ads target 10 Democrats, including Sens. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and urge them to back Trump’s nominee.
The political arm of the Club for Growth is also looking to hit the airwaves to pressure Senate Democrats facing tough races in the midterm elections, focusing specifically on Wisconsin, West Virginia, Indiana, Tennessee, Missouri and Florida once Kennedy’s successor is chosen.
The group may also target Senate Republicans whose support for Trump’s pick is not certain, such as Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Susan Collins, R-Maine.
Conservative groups mobilizing in support of the president’s pick for the Supreme Court won’t go unchallenged, though.
Demand Justice, a liberal organization launched in May with an eye on the federal judiciary, held a rally on the steps of the Supreme Court on Thursday to push back on Trump’s shortlist.
“We just need all of our Democrats to unite, we need one Republican vote,” Brian Fallon, the group’s leader and an alumnus of the Justice Department under President Barack Obama, said during the rally. “We can do this. Let’s fight. Let’s win this fight.”
Fallon called on Democratic Sens. Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, and Manchin to oppose Trump’s nominee.
The group was joined by a number of Senate Democrats — many of whom are considered presidential contenders in 2020 — and organizations including Planned Parenthood and Center for American Progress Action Fund.
Demand Justice began a campaign this month designed to educate progressives on the records of the president’s contenders, running ads focusing on Amy Coney Barrett of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Brett Kavanaugh of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and Amul Thapar of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
