Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., is on track to support the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh, President Trump’s nominee to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy.
Cotton, a Trump ally, immediately issued a supportive statement Monday after the president announced Kavanaugh’s nomination during a prime-time televised address from the White House, though it was not a blanket endorsement. “Judge Kavanaugh has an impressive record as a jurist and as a lawyer,” Cotton, a Harvard-educated lawyer, said.
Earlier, some had believed Coton might stand in Kavanaugh’s way, based on something Cotton had told Trump during a private conversation about the four finalists for the appointment. But sources familiar with their conversation tell the Washington Examiner that this isn’t so.
In their conversation, Cotton offered Trump his unvarnished assessment of the pros and cons of each potential nominee — Kavanaugh, a federal judge on the influential D.C. Circuit court of appeals; as well as Judges Amy Coney Barrett, Tom Hardiman, and Raymond Kethledge. Cotton never expressed opposition to any Trump’s final four, and he demurred when Trump asked him if he had a favorite among the group.
The one specific recommendation the senator made was that Trump should spend time with each potential nominee. It’s possible, sources say, that the cons Cotton listed in regard to Kavanaugh became known, but not the pros.
Cotton has yet to announce an official position on Kavanaugh’s confirmation. “This is a highly consequential nomination, and it deserves the most careful consideration, so I look forward to meeting with Judge Kavanaugh soon to discuss more in detail his views on the Supreme Court’s role in our constitutional democracy,” he said as a part of his initial statement.
The president eventually selected Kavanaugh, considered a favorite throughout the vetting process because of his educational pedigree and an extensive paper trail that provides confidence to establishment Republicans and grassroots activists that he will operate on the Supreme Court as a conservative.
The two Republican senators receiving the most scrutiny in regard to which way they will vote are Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. Each has said they would be wary of confirming a nominee that might overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion and established it as a constitutional right.
Neither Collins nor Murkowski has expressed any deep concerns about Kavanaugh, although both have are promising to vet the nominee thoroughly before deciding whether to support him.
