5:40 AM – Trump Appoints Conservative Brett Kavanaugh to Supreme Court

President Donald Trump on Monday appointed Magistrate Brett Kavanaugh to the United States Supreme Court, thus anchoring conservatism to the institution that cuts through the great debates of American society.

"Tonight I the honor and privilege of announcing that I am appointing Brett Kavanaugh, "a judge" with impeccable credentials, to the United States Supreme Court, "Trump said after a cleverly orchestrated showdown by the White House.

"He is a brilliant jurist with clear and chiseled writings, considered everywhere as one of the finest and most keen legal minds of our time", added the president, who spoke at 9:00 pm prime time for TV channels.

Mr. Trump's announcement was eagerly awaited by his electoral base, who knows how much a Supreme Court judge, appointed for life, offers a long-term guarantee. This rare opportunity stems from the unexpected retirement of Anthony Kennedy, 81, one of the nine sages in the high court.

Currently a judge in the Washington Court of Appeal, 53-year-old Brett Kavanaugh, was legal counsel to former Republican President George W. Bush. The lucky winner was "deeply honored" to have been chosen.

"A judge must be independent and must interpret the law, not make the law", he badured when a short speech, in the presence of Mr. Trump and in front of his parents, to whom he paid tribute.

In early 2017 the American president had already had the opportunity to promote to the high court a conservative judge, Neil Gorsuch. With Brett Kavanaugh, the jurisdiction to enforce the constitutionality of the laws will have a solid majority of five conservative members, against four progressives.

This balance of power should help slash local ambitions to regulate firearms, give pledges to conservative Christians, to comfort the supporters of the death penalty, to support the employers' lobbies and to oppose a capping of the electoral financing.

Brett Kavanaugh was chosen after a selection which made it possible to the end of the weekend to tighten the list of candidates to four magistrates, all very conservative: it included Amy Coney Barrett, a judge with traditional religious values; Raymond Kethledge, a defender of a literal interpretation of the Constitution; and Thomas Hardiman, a fierce proponent of the carrying of weapons.

– "Judicial Activism" –

Judge Kavanaugh must now be confirmed by a vote of the Senate. Trump wants to act quickly and take advantage of the narrow Republican majority in the upper house of Congress, ahead of the mid-term risky elections in November.

With Supreme Court justices often sitting for decades, the stakes are huge .

Justice Kennedy, 81, played a pivotal role: Conservative on topics such as guns or election financing, he was more progressive on issues such as abortion, affirmative action, or same-bad marriage. .

His departure was strongly feared by the Democrats, who also feared a failure of the Dean of the Court, the Progressive Magistrate Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who still sits at 85.

– Offset Right –

Without Kennedy and Kavanaugh, many now consider that a real danger hangs over various social gains, such as the right to abortion, which dates back to a landmark Supreme Court case, Roe v. Wade, 1973.

"This appointment may endanger the right to abortion, which has benefited millions of women and families for more than four decades," the US Freedom Union reacted on Monday.

Exasperated that Donald Trump thus has the opportunity to make a lasting impression on the Supreme Court, the Democratic Opposition intends to mobilize during the vote of confirmation of Mr. Kavanaugh a process that Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader in the Senate, wants to buckle in the fall.

Some moderate Republican politicians also warned that they would not automatically endorse Judge Kavanaugh. "I intend to check very closely and carefully the candidate nominated by the president," said Republican Senator Susan Collins.