10. President Trump will announce his decision on the evening of Monday, July 9th.
9. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer will follow the “Kennedy Rule” and oppose any nominee. Senator Ted Kennedy gave an infamous speech condemning Judge Robert Bork as soon as he was announced. The partisan attack helped lead to Bork’s defeat. Kennedy gave a similar speech when Justice David Souter was nominated. Justice Souter turned out to be a vote for the liberal wing of the court. The Kennedy rule many Senate Democrats have lived by states regardless of the person’s record, if he is nominated by a Republican, he must be portrayed as an extremist that would bring back segregation, back-alley abortions, etc.
8. CNN will report fake news. CNN’s legal commentator Jeffrey Toobin has already lost it as Ari Fleischer points out:
If you want to see what it looks like when someone has lost their mind, here it is... https://t.co/TyeCPn9MPQ— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) July 1, 2018
7. The Left’s attacks are not limited to unhinged insanity. They also include Religious bigotry.
Dragging Amy Barrett for her Christian faith is 1) unconstitutional if used as a religious test for office; 2) ignorant; and 3) often malicious and bigoted. She lives a life very similar to the lives of millions of her fellow citizens: https://t.co/p1Vu8Z3fvo— David French (@DavidAFrench) July 2, 2018
I didn’t realize that the minority leader was such a fan of Citizens United and DC v Heller. https://t.co/qZXrvogE56— Ilya Shapiro (@ishapiro) July 2, 2018
5. President Trump is reportedly personally interviewing five finalists. David Latt says four of those finalists are:
I can CONFIRM (multiple sources) that President Donald Trump personally interviewed these four #SCOTUS candidates today: Judges Amy Barrett (7th Cir.), Brett Kavanaugh (D.C. Cir.), Raymond Kethledge (6th Cir.), & Amul Thapar (6th Cir.). #AppellateTwitter— David Lat (@DavidLat) July 2, 2018
4. The fifth person is a woman, as President Trump has stated two of the five potential nominees are women. Possibilities include: Margaret Ryan, Joan Larsen, or Allison Eid.
3. While much has been written about the qualifications of Judge Barrett and Judge Kavanaugh, Judge Kethletdge has largely flown under the radar. Here is a great piece by RNLA Board of Governors Member Chuck Cooper on Kethledge.
2. Another potential nominee not receiving as much attention is Judge Thapar. For his appellate nomination, RNLA endorsed Amul Thapar and worked on his judicial confirmation.
1. The "judge whisperer" Leonard Leo of the Federalist Society summed up President Trump's Supreme Court shortlist well: "The list is really good," Leo said, adding, "You can throw a dart at that list and in my view you would be fine."
The RNLA is very excited to support the nominee in the mold of former RNLA Member Justice Neil Gorusch. Stay tuned for more information here and buckle your seat belt for Monday.