Trump nominates Kavanaugh to US Supreme Court News
© Wikimedia (The White House)
Trump nominates Kavanaugh to US Supreme Court

US President Donald Trump on Monday nominated [press release] Brett M. Kavanaugh of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit [official website] to the US Supreme Court to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy, who will retire [JURIST report] on July 31st. 

Kennedy was nominated [JURIST op-ed] in 1987 by then-president Ronald Reagan. He was seen as having a relatively  neutral ideology and methodology of interpretation. Throughout his time on the court, Kennedy often acted as the swing vote [JURIST report] among four conservative and four liberal justices.

Kavanaugh [official profile], on the other hand, is believed to represent a strong conservative ideology and perspective. Trump introduced [text, HTML] Kavanaugh as “a brilliant jurist, with a clear and effective writing style, universally regarded as one of the finest and sharpest legal minds of our time,” with “impeccable credentials, unsurpassed qualifications, and a proven commitment to equal justice under the law.”

Trump prefaced his announcement with a brief word about Kennedy’s and the late Justice Antonin Scalia’s time on the Court. He went on to say that he believes Kavanaugh will use a similar methodology to uphold the Constitution.