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WASHINGTON – Supreme Court Candidate
Brett Kavanaugh
had its first meeting with a prominent Senate Democrat on Monday, as Republicans and their allies increased pressure on the most vulnerable of their opponents to be re-elected in the GOP-leaning states.
Judge Kavanaugh spent about two hours at Capitol Hill behind closed doors with
Senator Joe Manchin,
a Democrat from West Virginia candidate for re-election in a state president
Asset
Earned 42 points in the 2016 elections.
Up to now, other Democrats in the Senate have refused to meet with the retired candidate of Justice Anthony Kennedy, stating that they wanted the Senate Republicans Undertake to return tens of thousands of pages of Judge Kavanaugh's career before agreeing to participate. in bipartisan courtesy meetings that are traditionally part of an appointment to the Supreme Court.
Last week, Mr. Manchin resisted his party and announced that he would meet Judge Kavanaugh. Manchin is also among Senate Democrats who have declared their readiness to support Judge Kavanaugh despite a fierce campaign by progressive activists urging the Senate to reject Trump's candidacy on burning issues such as campaign finance. , labor law, abortion rights and corporate power.
"I think it's irresponsible to announce your position a few minutes after the candidate's announcement," Manchin said in a statement after the meeting. "I will not make a final decision on the appointment of Judge Kavanaugh until I complete a thorough and fair review of his candidacy."
Republicans and their allies are conducting their own lobbying campaign to convince Democratic candidates to say is highly qualified and mainstream. Other democratic targets in the Senate include
Heidi Heitkamp
North Dakota,
Joe Donnelly
from Indiana, and
Bill Nelson
of Florida. Conservative groups ran advertisements against the trio, urging them to support Judge Kavanaugh
. Manchin needs to give up the waffle maker and support the candidate for the Supreme Court of President Trump, "said
Patrick Morrisey,
The Republican Attorney General of West Virginia, who runs against Mr. Manchin in November
"The men and women of West Virginia can not rely on Senator Manchin to do the brave thing and support Kavanaugh now. from this they can count on the fact that Senator Manchin makes a wary political calculation once the result has already been decided, "said Mr. Morrisey
MM Manchin, as well as Mrs. Heitkamp and Mr. Donnelly, crossed the party lines last year to confirm Mr. Trump's previous candidate at the court,
Neil Gorsuch.
But this time, the stakes are much higher for the Democrats. Judge Gorsuch took over at the end
Antonin Scalia,
a reliable Conservative vote on the court. Judge Kavanaugh would occupy the seat left vacant by Justice Kennedy, which is considered a swing vote.
Congressional Republicans are eager to take advantage of the vacant post, seeing a unique opportunity to move the court in a more conservative direction.
On the Republican side, only two senators are still considered swing votes. Meaning.
Lisa Murkowski
from Alaska and
Susan Collins
from Maine both support abortion rights and said they want clarity on Judge Kavanaugh's position on the issue before pledging to support him.
Republicans now control only 50 votes in the Senate, with
Senator John McCain
(R., Ariz.) Absent from the Senate while undergoing treatment for brain cancer. Any Republican defection can derail a Senate vote if Democrats band together in the opposition as a bloc.
Judge Kavanaugh further strengthened his Republican support Monday after Kentucky Sen.
Rand Paul
approved his appointment. Mr. Paul, a Kentucky Republican with a libertarian bias that sometimes defies his party in important ballots, had expressed concerns about Justice Kavanaugh's views on civil liberties and privacy and suggested that he could do not support the candidate.
But after a meeting last week, Mr. Paul said that he would support Judge Kavanaugh, who is President Trump's choice to occupy the seat of the Supreme Court that will be released by retirees.
Anthony Kennedy.
"No one will ever completely agree with a candidate (unless of course you are the candidate)," Mr. Paul wrote on Twitter . "Each candidate, however, must be judged on his entire point of view and opinions."
"My conversation with Judge Kavanaugh reinforces my belief that he will evaluate cases in the Supreme Court from a textual and original point of view, and I believe he will carefully follow the Constitution and take his work to protect individual freedom seriously, "Paul wrote on Twitter.
Writing to Byron Tau at [email protected]
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