Retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens has pulled back his support for Brett Kavanaugh, arguing Thursday that the nominee’s performance at his confirmation hearings should disqualify him from the bench, per Palm Beach Post reporter, Lulu Ramadan.
The details: Stevens, 98, had previously said Kavanaugh "had the qualifications" to sit on the country's highest court. "His performance in the hearings changed my mind... The Senators should pay attention to this," he said at an event in Florida. The Senate is set to take its first procedural vote Friday on whether to confirm Kavanaugh. Stevens was appointed to the court in 1975 by former President Gerald Ford and served as an associate justice until his retirement in 2010.
In a press conference with other top Republican senators Thursday, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley said Judge Brett Kavanaugh should be confirmed on Saturday.
The details: This comes after key senators, who reviewed the supplemental FBI background investigation into allegations of sexual assault and misconduct against President Trump's Supreme Court pick, signaled some confidence and satisfaction with the quality of the probe. Republicans said the FBI report has not corroborated the allegations made against Kavanaugh.
At a Bloomberg roundtable, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chairman Rep. Ben Ray Luján told reporters that eight Democratic House candidates have raised over $3 million since the end of June.
Why it matters: That is "unprecedented" for House races, Luján said — and it shows the enthusiasm among grassroots activists and donors who have been fueling Democratic campaigns across the country all cycle.
Top Republicans tell Axios that they're seeing a surprising and widespread surge in GOP voter enthusiasm, powered largely by support for Brett Kavanaugh and his Supreme Court nomination.
What they're saying: "The Kavanaugh debate has dropped a political grenade into the middle of an electorate that had been largely locked in Democrats' favor for the past six months," said Josh Holmes, a former top aide to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
A new Public Affairs Council/Morning Consult poll reveals that a majority of Americans have become indifferent toward President Trump's tweets on business, political news and campaign finances practices.
Why it matters: Several polls have revealed Americans distrust political news from social media, but now responses show the president is no exception. Overall, the poll of 2,200 adults revealed that people have a cynical attitude toward information on politics and business news.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell filed cloture on the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh late Wednesday, setting up a Friday procedural vote.
The details: This means that the Senate will make a final vote as early as Saturday. McConnell said the Senate will receive the FBI’s review of Kavanaugh’s background Wednesday night.
A federal judge in California issued a preliminary injunction on Wednesday to temporarily block the Trump administration from terminating Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for hundreds of thousands of immigrants from from El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua and Sudan.
Why it matters: This is a significant victory for more than 300,000 TPS beneficiaries and advocates seeking to reinstate the program that protects some undocumented immigrants from deportation — many of whom have been living in the U.S. for decades and have children who are American. U.S. District Judge Edward Chen wrote that the government must maintain TPS while a suit challenging its decision plays out in court. Chen's ruling comes as recipients from Sudan were set to lose their protections next month.
In a letter to Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) Wednesday, eight of 10 Democrats on the Senate Judiciary committee disputed tweets sent by the committee majority that claimed that, of the six background investigations into Brett Kavanuagh since 1993, there has never been "a whiff of any issue" related to inappropriate sexual behavior or alcohol abuse "in any way."
What they're saying: "Each of us reviewed the confidential background investigation of Judge Kavanaugh before the hearing. While we are limited in what we can say about this background investigation in a public setting, we are compelled to state for the record that there is information in the second post that is not accurate."
Brace yourselves for a gusher of leaks: The FBI report on Brett Kavanaugh could reach Congress today or tomorrow, with a final vote on his nomination this weekend.
Why it matters: This report won't be made public, but expect Republicans to leak areas where the FBI didn't find evidence of an assault, and Democrats to leak areas where investigators found new dirt or desired more time.
Since Sen. Jeff Flake's (R-Ariz.) call for a one-week FBI investigation into the claims against Judge Brett Kavanaugh, more developments have unfolded about Trump's Supreme Court pick leading up to the conclusion of the report which may finish as soon as Wednesday.
Sen. Lindsay Graham explained his support for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh at The Atlantic Festival on Wednesday, saying the Republican Party has never been more unified than it is now because of Democrats' actions.
"Whether you’re a Trump Republican, a Bush Republican, a McCain Republican, a libertarian or a vegetarian — you’re pissed. I’ve never seen the Republican Party so unified as I do right now. The defining issue in 2018 has changed. It’s about this."
The big picture: Red-state Senate Democrats up for re-election could face voters' wrath over the Kavanaugh issue next month as Republicans gamble that Dems' opposition to Kavanaugh will hurt them more than it helps.
Tuesday night at a rally in Mississippi, President Trump mocked Christine Blasey Ford's testimony about her alleged assault in her hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, to the laughter of the audience.
The big picture: For Republicans and red-state Democrats on the fence about Kavanaugh, Trump's comments aren't going over very well. While it isn't likely to derail Kavanaugh's confirmation, it's another instance of Trump bringing more drama into an already-dramatic decision for senators.
Sen. Jeff Flake said that President Trump's mockery of Christine Blasey Ford at his rally on Tuesday night was "appalling" during an appearance on NBC's "Today" Wednesday.
"Well, there is no time and no place for remarks like that, but to discuss something this sensitive at a political rally is just not right. … I wish he hadn't of done it and I just say it's kind of appalling."
The big picure: Flake has been vocal about the political divide caused by Trump's nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, admitting over the weekend that he believes "our country’s coming apart on this." His compromise last week in the Senate Judiciary Committee secured the supplemental FBI investigation of the allegations of sexual assault and misconduct against Kavanaugh.
President Trump is increasingly fantasizing in public and private about his 2020 campaign, using midterm rallies to talk as excitedly about his own re-election in 2020 as he does about the 2018 races that are just 34 days away.
What he's saying: Last night in Mississippi, he even promised "we will do a landslide" in 2020, after a razor-thin electoral victory (and substantial popular vote loss) in 2016. "Who the hell’s gonna beat us? Look! Who's going to beat us?" Trump asked, after amping up his frequent riff about former Vice President Joe Biden as a lightweight he'd love to crush.
While reaching an agreement with Mexico and Canada on an updated trade deal is a major win for the administration, that's just the beginning of the battle, which now heads to Congress and will likely stretch into next year.
The big picture: Forget about Congress approving this before the midterms. Passing major legislation is tricky even in less partisan times. But because of all the steps required,the push to implement the new trade deal will likely continue into the new Congress — when the fate of the deal could easily be up to a Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
A narrow majority of Americans think President Trump's tariffs against China have been bad for jobs, and his overall trade policies are unpopular by a nearly identical margin, according to a new Axios/SurveyMonkey poll.
Why it matters: Trump has a chance to improve his approval numbers now that he's reached a new trade agreement with Canada and Mexico to replace NAFTA. But this poll, taken before the agreement was announced, shows how much ground he has to make up due to the unpopularity of the tariffs.
At a rally Tuesday night, President Donald Trump, who called Christine Blasey Ford's testimony "very credible" last week, mocked her account of the night she claims Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her.
Key quote: "How did you get home? 'I don't remember.' How'd you get there? 'I don't remember.' Where is the place? 'I don't remember.' How many years ago was it? 'I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.' What neighborhood was it in? 'I don't know.' Where's the house? Upstairs, downstairs, where was it? 'I don't know, but I had one beer, that's the only thing I remember.' And a man's life is in tatters. A man's life is shattered."
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders lambasted a bombshell New York Times investigation on Tuesday that explained how Donald Trump raked in millions from tax dodges, arguing that the publication has been largely focused on “attacking the president and his family 24/7 instead of reporting the news.”
The details: The Times reports said Trump participated in "dubious" tax schemes in the 1990s and received at least $413 million in today’s dollars from his father's real estate empire. Sanders, in a statement, characterized the report as a "misleading attack against the Trump family," adding that the “Times can rarely find anything positive about the President and his tremendous record of success to report.”
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