Brett Kavanaugh, 53, will be nominated to replace Anthony Kennedy on the United States Supreme Court, President Donald Trump announced Monday.
Kavanaugh has served on the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia since 2006. He was appointed to that post by President George W. Bush after serving as Bush’s staff secretary. He also clerked for Kennedy in the 1990s.
The pick has been hotly anticipated, as Kennedy has been a swing vote on a court that includes four consistent conservatives and four consistent liberals. Some have expressed that the landmark Roe vs Wade decision, which effectively made abortion legal, could be overturned if Trump’s picks for the court form a conservative majority. Meanwhile some conservatives have questioned Kavanaugh’s conservative convictions as a native of DC, a traditionally liberal city.
Kavanaugh now must be confirmed by the United States Senate which is narrowly controlled by Republicans.
