Trump nominates Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court

President Donald Trump, in a prime-time announcement to the nation Monday, announced he is nominating Brett Kavanaugh to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy on the U.S. Supreme Court. Trump called Kavanaugh “a judge’s judge,” citing his “proven commitment to equal justice under the law.”

Kavanaugh, 53, currently serves on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and clerked for Justice Kennedy in the 1990s. He grew up in Washington, D.C., and attended Georgetown Preparatory School before earning undergraduate and law degrees from Yale. Later, Kavanaugh was the lead author of the Starr Report, detailing the offenses of then–President Bill Clinton, and worked in the George W. Bush White House.

“I will always strive to preserve the Constitution of the United States and the American rule of law,” he said in accepting the nomination.

Kavanaugh must now go before the Senate for confirmation, and Senate Democrats are determined to vigorously oppose him in the lead-up to November’s midterm elections. Republicans hold only a 51-49 majority in the Senate, leaving them little, if any, margin, but Democratic senators running for reelection in states Trump carried in 2016 will face pressure from constituents to back Kavanaugh’s nomination.

Kavanaugh and his wife, Ashley, who spent many years working for George W. Bush in Texas and in Washington, have two daughters, Margaret and Liza. “I thank God every day for my family,” Kavanaugh said Monday night. The Kavanaughs are Roman Catholic.