Judges and Toddlers

The Game is On: Although it’s been only two days since Justice Kennedy announced his intent to step down from the Supreme Court, the Trump administration is already off and running in their quest to get another conservative, and by conservative think extreme conservative, seated on the court by October.  White House Counsel Don McGahn, who successfully shepherded Judge Gorsuch’s nomination and who has previously indicated to colleagues that he plans to step down from his position by year end, views the successful seating of another judge as the best possible thing that he can do before his exit.  To that end he immediately called Republican Senators Collins and Murkowski to begin the Trump charm offensive against them, the only two pro-Choice Republicans in the Senate.  Additionally, on Thursday Trump met with the two Republican outliers as well as Senators Heitkamp, Manchin and Donnelly, the only Democrats to vote yes on the Justice Gorsuch nomination.  All of those Democrats are up for reelection in states that Trump won in 2016; their vulnerability is one of the reasons that Trump and Senate Majority Leader McConnell want to push the nomination process forward now, rather than after the election when the pressure on the three Democrats will fall away.  To that end McConnell has pushed back hard at any suggestion that his phony “McConnell Rule” the rule he ginned up to keep Obama’s nominee Merrick Garland off the court in the run up to the 2016 election, should be applied here because this is just a midterm election year and it’s his rule so he knows best how to apply it.  Democrats are fighting back, in addition to citing McConnell’s hypocrisy, for whatever that’s worth, they are also questioning the appropriateness of  Trump getting to appoint a judge who could rule on whether or not he can be subpoenaed to testify while the Mueller investigation that he would be asked to testify about is going on.  Senator Collins has said that she views Roe v Wade as established law and that she always asks court nominees if they will respect precedent leaving some hope that she might actually step up here. She’s also said that whatever she decides a lot of people will be angry with her.  When asked  Murkowski was less direct but did say “There’s pressure because of the gravity of such a nomination, I am not going to suggest that my opportunity as a senator in the advise and consent process is somehow or other short-cutted just because this is a Republican president and I’m a Republican.”  Both Senators bucked Trump on Obamacare but were bought off with concessions or in Collins’ case unfulfilled promises in exchange for support of the tax bill so it’s not clear what they will do here.  Democrats and pro-choice advocates face a steep uphill battle, really steep.

Kabuki Theatre:  Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein emerged from his battle with the House Judiciary Committee a bit bruised yesterday but with his sense of humor intact. Together with FBI Director Wray he was subjected to five hours of intense questioning about all  things Mueller in a hearing that was supposed to be about the FBI’s handling of the Clinton email investigation but that instead turned into a Republican attack of the FBI and Rosenstein’s integrity.  The usual Republican characters including Trey Gowdy and Jim Jordan ranted endlessly at Rosenstein.  Gowdy, who spent more than two years holding hearings on Benghazi, never coming up with a single indictment and only giving up his investigation after Clinton lost the election, called for the end of the one year but way “too long” Mueller investigation, punctuating his demand with a forceful and loud “damn it.”  Gowdy is leaving Congress at the end of the year and really, really wants to be appointed to the Federal bench.  His performance was most certainly geared to impressing Trump that he is deserving of such an exalted position, one that requires balance and fairness.  Jordan’s nasty questioning turned comical when Rosenstein started punching back by rejecting any assertion that he who was under oath, and takes that oath very seriously, was lying and by dismissing any suggestion that he’d been uncooperative or had subpoenaed phone calls, something that he pointed out wasn’t even feasible. He also pointed out that he wasn’t the one responsible for all those redactions that Jordan keeps wailing about. Rosenstein’s return smacks got a few laughs from the crowd.  To the extent they could Democrats stood up for Rosenstein and Wray, at one point asking both of them to state their party affiliation to make the point that they were Republicans appointed by Trump. That said, the Republicans are serious about damaging the Mueller investigation by impugning Rosenstein.  To that end the committee took a brief break so that its members could show up on the House floor to vote for a resolution demanding that the Justice Department produce a large trove of  documents about the Mueller investigation to them by July 6.  They’ve threatened to initiate impeachment proceedings against Rosenstein if he doesn’t comply even though he’s bent over backwards to be cooperative.  Essentially the Republicans, all of whom voted for the resolution, are working hard to damage the Mueller investigation by influencing public opinion and handing Trump a rationale for firing Rosenstein.  

Migrant Crisis:  Melania Trump headed down to the border again in another effort to appear compassionate.  This time she stuck to a Jackie Kennedy styled ensemble, leaving her “message” jacket at home.  During her visit she spent a lot of time expressing her concern about the pressures endured by INS agents and Border guards, but gave little more than lip service to the children separated from their families.  As to those children, it doesn’t appear that the government is making any progress returning them to their families though officials have been busy holding deportation hearings for some of the kids where children as young as three years old have been sent to court by themselves.  One volunteer lawyer talked about the absurdity of representing an unaccompanied toddler who spent much of the hearing climbing the table because that’s what little kids do, especially when they have no adult supervision and have been separated from their moms and dads for weeks if not months.    

Another Tragedy:  Yesterday afternoon five members of the staff of the Capital Gazette  were shot to death and several more were seriously wounded when a shooter with a longstanding grudge against the Maryland paper opened fired.  Milos Yiannopoulos, the former Breitbart commentator who had just two days earlier called for vigilantes to start gunning down journalists, was quick to claim that he had just been joking.  Trump, who has previously signaled that he’d be fine if a few members of the “fake news” contingent were roughed up, refused to respond to any questions about the shooting when he was asked about it while he was leaving the White House on his way out of town to attend a few political rallies.  He did finally tweet out some condolences later and oddly enough his tweet mentioned that he had been briefed even before he’d left Washington. During his rally, he asserted that the head of US Steel had called him to thank him for his tariffs and to tell him that the company was in the process of opening seven new plants, all because of Trump’s business friendly policies.  The only problem with that assertion is that it was pure fantasy.  When asked to confirm the plant openings a US Steel representative refused to say that they were made-up so instead the spokesperson directed a reporter to the company’s website and SEC filings for more information.  The bottom line is that US Steel is not opening any new plants but the company is restarting one furnace.  Trump also told a crowd in Wisconsin that he was the first Republican to ever carry that state in a presidential election, another Trumpian fabrication.  The imaginative Trump is now on schedule to meet with Vladimir Putin on July 16 in Finland, immediately following the upcoming NATO summit that he is reluctantly attending.  In an editorial in today’s NY Times, the paper’s editorial board says that though it’s good for adversaries to sit down to discuss their differences, they are concerned that the meeting between Trump and Putin is really a meeting of “kindred spirits.”  In particular they note a recent statement by Trump where he complained that “NATO is as bad as NAFTA,” the free trade agreement with Mexico and Canada that he hates so much, and his comment that Crimea really should be part of Russia because the people there speak Russia.  Yesterday, Trump reverted back to his assertion that since Putin denies it, the Russians really didn’t meddle in our election.  With many really important issues to be discussed with Putin, including Syria, Ukraine, election meddling (because yes that really did happen and is still happening), and the New Start nuclear treaty, the NY Times expressed concern, concern shared by US allies and even Trump’s aides, that he will wing it and agree to something or many things to impress his good friend Vlad. As to aides, it’s highly unlikely that Trump will take any advice from Chief of Staff Kelly. The Wall Street Journal reports that Kelly is on his way out and that Trump has started asking friends who he should hire to serve as his next Chief of Staff.  Mick Mulvaney, the former Congressman and Trump favorite who is now the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and Nick Ayers, VP Pence’s chief of staff are both under serious consideration. To the extent that Kelly leaves and he probably is leaving, the new guy will become Trump’s third chief of staff in under two years. Whoever is chosen shouldn’t spend much time or money on office decorations.