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Kavanaugh's confirmation climb: Partisan opposition to court picks intensifies under Trump

Once upon a time, Supreme Court nominees stood a good chance of garnering broad bipartisan support.
Those days are gone.
As Brett Kavanaugh, President Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court, prepares for hearings on Capitol Hill, he can expect a far more polarized and partisan confirmation process than even the grueling nomination fights of recent administrations.
Dating back to Gerald Ford’s presidency, most Supreme Court nominees – even when facing ardent opposition – eventually won some bipartisan support during a final confirmation vote.
Kavanaugh, if confirmed, is facing the possibility of an airtight party-line vote. This, after Justice Neil Gorsuch won confirmation on a relatively narrow 54-45 vote.
To be sure, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell shares responsibility for setting the intensely partisan tone over court nominees, by refusing to consider then-President Barack Obama’s nomination of Judge Merrick Garland in 2016.
But the Trump era has witnessed perhaps the most consistently polarized judicial confirmation process for Supreme Court nominees in modern times.

Supreme Court confirmation votes since 1975

Neil Gorsuch -- 54-45
Merrick Garland -- NA
Elena Kagan -- 63-37
Sonia Sotomayor -- 68-31
Samuel Alito -- 58-42
Harriet Miers -- NA
John Roberts -- 78-22
Stephen Breyer -- 87-9
Ruth Bader Ginsburg -- 96-3
Clarence Thomas -- 52-48
David Souter -- 90-9
Anthony Kennedy -- 97-0
Robert Bork -- 42-58
Antonin Scalia -- 98-0
William Rehnquist -- 65-33
Sandra Day O'Connor -- 99-0
John Paul Stevens -- 98-0

Before Kavanaugh was even announced, some Democratic senators made clear they would not consider voting for him.
“He’s a deeply, deeply conservative justice, way out of the mainstream,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on the Senate floor after it was made official.
Conservatives have pushed back, suggesting Democrats are against anyone Trump nominates. To make that point, they pounced on a mistake by the Women’s March, an organization that sent out a press release slamming Trump’s nominee as “extremist” but forgot to replace the placeholder “XX” in the text with Kavanaugh’s name.
“This was in some cases quite literally a fill-in-the-blank opposition,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a floor speech. “They wrote statements of opposition only to fill in the name later.”
But uncompromising opposition to high court nominees may be the new norm under the Trump administration.
Trump’s first pick for the court, Gorsuch, won just three votes from Democrats last year.
It hasn’t always been this way: Under Ford, John Paul Stevens was confirmed 98-0. Under then-President Ronald Reagan, Sandra Day O’Connor was confirmed 99-0; William Rehnquist was confirmed 65-33; Antonin Scalia was confirmed 98-0 and Anthony Kennedy was confirmed 97-0.
Under then-President George H.W. Bush, David Souter was confirmed 90-9. Under Bill Clinton, Stephen Breyer was confirmed 87-9, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg was confirmed 96-3.
PENCE 'VERY ENCOURAGED' BY REACTION ON CAPITOL HILL TO KAVANAUGH
Under George W. Bush, John Roberts was confirmed 78-22 and Samuel Alito was confirmed on a tighter 58-42. Under President Barack Obama, Elena Kagan was confirmed 63-37 and Sonia Sotomayor was confirmed 68-31.
Of course, during that time period, there were a few high-profile examples of polarizing picks who faced ardent opposition, including those barely confirmed or who never made it out of the confirmation process.
Aside from Garland, Robert Bork’s nomination was famously rejected by the Senate in 1987. Clarence Thomas squeaked by in 1991 by in a 52-48 vote.
Harriet Miers withdrew her 2005 nomination amid questions about her qualifications.
Alex Pappas is a politics reporter at FoxNews.com. Follow him on Twitter at @AlexPappas.

Trump says he's 'terminating' NAFTA, announces new trade agreement with Mexico

President Trump on Monday said he plans to terminate the existing North American Free Trade Agreement, as he announced a new tentative agreement between the United States and Mexico that he described as "one of the largest trade deals ever made."
"I'll be terminating the existing deal and going into this deal," the president said in the Oval Office, calling it a "big day for trade."
But the president said Monday “we’ll see” if Canada can still be part of the trade pact, leaving open the possibility of separate agreements.
"We are starting negotiations with Canada pretty much immediately," Trump said.
Trump, sitting at the Resolute Desk, put Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto on his speaker phone as the press watched in the Oval Office. The Mexican president, speaking through a translator, congratulated the negotiators on both sides and expressed hope the United States and Canada would come to an agreement. 
Later, the White House said Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau congratulated Trump. "The leaders discussed US - Canada trade and agreed to continue productive conversations," White House officials said.
Earlier in the day, Trump said he wanted to get rid of the name “NAFTA” because it has bad connotations. He said he planned to call the deal the "United States-Mexico Trade Agreement" instead.
The United States Trade Representative called the U.S.-Mexico deal a “preliminary agreement in principle, subject to finalization and implementation.”
“They used to call it NAFTA, we are going to call it the United States-Mexico Trade Agreement, and we will get rid of the name NAFTA,” Trump said. “It has a bad connotation because the United States was hurt very badly by NAFTA.”
Trump on Monday called it "one of the largest trade deals ever made." The U.S. and Mexico have been working to resolve key differences on issues ranging from automobiles to energy.
According to a fact sheet from the United States Trade Representative, the agreement includes new rules of origin to incentivize manufacturers to source goods and materials in North America – including requiring 75 percent of auto content be made in the United States and Mexico.
Officials in Canada, though, on Monday still expressed optimism over a deal.
“Canada is encouraged by the continued optimism shown by our negotiating partners,” a spokesman for Canada's minister of foreign affair, Chrystia Freeland, said Monday. “Progress between Mexico and the United States is a necessary requirement for any renewed NAFTA agreement.”
During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump often railed against the trade pact as “the worst trade deal maybe ever signed anywhere.”
Trump and Peña Nieto have been working for the past five weeks to iron out their bilateral differences so Canada can rejoin the talks to update NAFTA. The U.S. and Mexico wanted to finalize an agreement this month so that it can be signed ahead of Mexican President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s inauguration in December.
One of the biggest issues on the negotiating table deals with car manufacturing jobs, as the Trump administration pushes for a deal that would boost factory employment in the U.S.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Mexican Secretary of Economy Idelfonso Guajardo were seen walked together Monday into the White House without talking to reporters. The delegation also included Jesus Seade, a World Trade Organization veteran tapped by Lopez Obrador as his future chief trade negotiator.
The U.S. on Thursday agreed to keep the 2.5 percent tariff currently applied under World Trade Organization rules if the cars are made at factories that already exist, which leaves open the possibility that automobiles that are built at new plants could face tariffs of 20 percent to 25 percent.
Trump has also signaled that he is open to negotiating trade deals with Mexico and Canada separately, while both countries have said they want to keep the three-nation trade deal that dates back to 1994.
Earlier in August, Trump threatened Canada with auto tariffs if the U.S. and Canada can't forge a deal.
"Canada must wait," Trump tweeted. "Their Tariffs and Trade Barriers are far too high. Will tax cars if we can't make a deal!"
Canada responded with a statement Friday night, saying: "Our focus is unchanged. We'll keep standing up for Canadian interests as we work toward a modernized trilateral NAFTA agreement."
Adam Austen, a spokesman for Canada's foreign minister, added: "We're glad Mexico and the U.S. continue to work out their bilateral issues. It's the only way we'll get to a deal."

California lawmakers approve tougher restrictions on firearms possession, report says

California Gov. Jerry Brown will reportedly consider three bills intended to add restrictions on gun ownership in his state.  (AP)

Lawmakers in California on Monday sent three bills to Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk that call for stricter restrictions on firearms in a state that has one of the toughest gun laws in the country.
The bill was sent to Brown’s desk one day after a gunman opened fire at a gaming event in Florida, killing two before turning the gun on himself.
The Los Angeles Times reported that the bills call for a lifetime ban for those convicted of domestic violence along with those ordered by a court to a psychiatric hold twice in one year.
State lawmakers have also called for Californians interested in obtaining a concealed weapon permit to undergo eight hours of instruction and pass a live-fire test before being granted the permit, the report said.
Most Republicans opposed the concealed-carry measure, warning that there is no limit on the amount of training a county can demand for the permit under the proposed law.
The state is known to have tight gun laws. Those convicted of domestic violence in the state currently face a 10-year probation, the report said. The state also currently enforces a five-year ban for those ordered by a court into a psychiatric holds, the report said.
“If you want to have a loaded gun in public, you need to show that you know what you are doing,” Todd Gloria, a Democratic assemblyman, told The Times.

Cohen lawyer admits he was anonymous CNN source for bombshell story on Trump Tower meeting

Lanny Davis, the high-powered attorney of President Trump’s longtime “fixer”-turned-foe Michael Cohen, admitted Monday he was an anonymous source for a bombshell CNN story on the infamous 2016 Trump Tower meeting — after The Washington Post outed him as a source for its own story.
Davis told BuzzFeed News Monday night he regretted being the anonymous source as well as his subsequent denial. The CNN story, which cited multiple “sources,” claimed Cohen said President Trump knew in advance about the Trump Tower sit-down.
“I made a mistake,” Davis told BuzzFeed.
CNN, which has stood by its reporting, did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment.
Davis spent recent days walking back his bombshell assertions that his client could tell Special Counsel Robert Mueller that Trump had prior knowledge of the meeting with a Russian lawyer discussing potentially damaging information on Hillary Clinton.
Trump has denied knowledge all along, and fired back following CNN’s report last month.
“I did NOT know of the meeting with my son, Don jr. Sounds to me like someone is trying to make up stories in order to get himself out of an unrelated jam (Taxi cabs maybe?). He even retained Bill and Crooked Hillary’s lawyer. Gee, I wonder if they helped him make the choice!” Trump tweeted on July 27.
The CNN report from July 27 headlined, “Cohen claims Trump knew in advance of 2016 Trump Tower meeting,” cited “sources with knowledge,” contradicting repeated denials by Trump and his surrogates, as Fox News previously reported. CNN’s report resulted in countless cable news segments and sent other news organizations scurrying to match.
Among them was The Washington Post. On Sunday, the newspaper published an interview in which Davis backpedaled.
Davis, attempting to clean up his comments in interviews last week after Cohen pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations, tax evasion and bank fraud, told the Post he “should have been more clear” that he “could not independently confirm what happened.”
Davis said he regretted his “error.”
“Davis’s latest comments cast doubt on what Cohen may know, including about a June 2016 meeting in New York’s Trump Tower attended by Trump’s eldest son and a Russian lawyer,” the Post wrote on Sunday night.
Davis started walking back the allegations last week, when during an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, he was asked whether there was evidence that Trump knew about the meeting before it happened.
“No, there’s not,” Davis said.
He told BuzzFeed on Monday night about his comments to Cooper: “I did not mean to be cute.”
Fox News' Brian Flood and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Frank Miles is a reporter and editor covering sports, tech, military and geopolitics for FoxNews.com. He can be reached at Frank.Miles@foxnews.com.

Russian Hacking Vote Cartoons

Attorney General Sessions Deems Late Senator Mccain ‘Great Leader’ with ‘Relentless Drive’

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions speaks during a news conference regarding the country’s opioid epidemic, Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2018, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

Attorney General Jeff Sessions offers his condolences over the death of Senator John McCain, calling him a “great leader” with “relentless drive.”
In a statement Saturday, Sessions said the country was McCain’s top priority and “his ferocious tenacity for his country was unmatched.”
Sessions went on to say America has lost a great patriot and cited his support for the U.S. troop surge to Iraq back in 2007 as completely selfless and patriotic.
McCain first announced his brain cancer diagnosis in July of last year.

Kelli Ward criticized for suggesting McCain pre-timed announcement to damage her campaign

Kelli Ward speaks to the media as she prepares to file her nominating petitions at the state Capitol in Phoenix  (AP)

Hours before Sen. John McCain died on Saturday, a Republican seeking Arizona’s other U.S. Senate seat suggested that his family’s earlier announcement that he was ending cancer treatment had been timed to hurt her campaign.
Former State Sen. Kelli Ward, who lost a primary to McCain running from the right in 2016 and is now trying to win the GOP nomination for retiring Sen. Jeff Flake’s seat, made the suggestion in response to a Facebook post by a campaign aide.
According to screenshots of the conversation posted on Twitter by Arizona political reporters, the aide, Jonathan Williams, wondered if it was “just a coincidence” that the announcement of McCain ending medical treatment came the day Ward was launching a statewide bus tour, her big push before Tuesday’s primary.
Ward replied: “I think they wanted to have a particular narrative that is negative to me.”
After her response was Tweeted out, Ward deleted the post and replaced it with one claiming the media was concocting a story.
Aaron Borders, an Arizona lobbyist and ex-vice chair of the Maricopa County GOP, shared the comment on his Facebook page told The Washington Post that Ward, “shouldn’t be saying any of this. Leave it alone. [McCain’s] not even an opponent. That’s about as narcissistic as it gets,”
“I’ve said again and again to pray for Senator McCain & his family,” Ward wrote. “These decisions are terrible to have to make. I feel compassion for him and his family as they go through this.”
McCain, a war hero who survived five years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, served three decades in Congress and went on to become the Republican Party’s nominee for president in 2008, died Saturday. He was 81 years old.