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U.S. Constitution Title: Inside Donald Trump's Supreme Court Deliberations At his private club in New Jersey this weekend, Trump has been consulting with aides and advisers, including Vice President Mike Pence, who flew up to work through the pluses and minuses of each candidate. As Trump likes to do, he is also phoning friends and lawmakers to sound them out about potential contenders. As of Saturday evening, advisers say, the president had narrowed his list down to four candidates. Raymond Kethledge was the leading contender, although officials stress that Trump has not yet settled on a choice. Trump has been describing Kethledge to aides as “Gorsuch 2.0,” a reference to his 2017 successful nominee, Neil Gorsuch. Trump sees that nomination as one of the high points of his presidency. Even so, White House officials are preparing rollout plans for all four contenders, which also include Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh and Thomas Hardiman, officials say. Hardiman, however, remains in distant last place. Kavanaugh had been considered a frontrunner, but his fortunes may be torpedoed by Trump’s grudges. Kavanaugh was a top aide to President George W. Bush, whom Trump loathes. As much as anything, personality drives the current President to action, and Trump has gone out of his way to attack all members of the Bush clan and their aides. When some Twitter users started posting a photograph of Kavanaugh walking with former Bush deputy chief of staff Karl Rove, most of Kavanaugh’s backers saw the writing on the wall given Rove’s criticism of Trump’s conduct as candidate and as President. Privately, Kavanaugh has found the treatment of his service in the Bush White House troubling, he has told those involved in picking a nominee. But that is unlikely to sway Trump, aides say, and those involved in the process urged Kavanaugh not to dig any deeper with Trump. White House Counsel Don McGahn, a Kavanaugh booster, has largely stopped making the case for his friend, sources say. Kethledge’s reputation as a writer has intrigued Trump, according to an official briefed on the closed-door sessions with the President. Kethledge’s rulings and his book on leadership have been passed around the West Wing and now Bedminster. Trump hasn’t read much of it, but he likes the idea of a talented writer on the bench. Trump has also repeatedly asked if Kethledge is “with him” on the issue of religious liberty, a bedrock issue for Christian conservatives who formed part of Trump’s campaign coalition in 2016 and will remain valuable do a 2020 re-election bid. Aides have assured Trump that Kethledge is good on that issue from the White House’s view. Kethledge also may face one of the easier paths to confirmation, officials have told the President. While he wasn’t Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s first pick, McConnell can ease his pathway to confirmation. That’s not the case necessarily with Barrett, who had a difficult confirmation hearing to earn her current seat on a federal appeals court based in Chicago. With the Senate split 51-49—and Republican Sen. John McCain unlikely to cast a vote—that gives Republicans no wiggle room if Democrats remain united as expected on a Barrett nomination. Even then, it’s possible Sens. Lisa Murkowski or Susan Collins could reject Barrett; both female Senators are supporters of abortion rights. . . . Poster Comment: Trump's lawyer, McGahn, wants Kavanagh. McConnell wants Kavanagh (and does not want Barrett at all). But Kavanagh is too Bushy and too swampy for Trump to be happy with. Advantage: Kethledge. And even Hardiman benefits, another fairly easy confirmation prospect. Kethledge is a lifelong Michigander, Hardiman has gone native in his decades living in Pennsylvania. Both states were vital to Trump's 2016 win and they'd love to have a top judge put on the Court.
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