President Donald Trump has refrained from personally calling and pressuring senators on their vote for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, leaving the behind-the-scenes machinations to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) — to the intense relief of the Republicans.
According to a Tuesday Politico report, in this regard, the Kavanaugh confirmation process mirrors that of Supreme Court justice Neil Gorsuch, when Republicans managed to keep the mercurial President away from the delicate negotiations that go on behind closed doors during big votes.
The time that the President reportedly involved himself most was one of his most humiliating defeats: the downfall of the Obamacare repeal.
As for McConnell, who consider his efforts at different levels of the judiciary to be his proudest accomplishment, he is projecting confidence about the confirmation, telling reporters that he believes he has the votes to get Kavanaugh on the bench.
However, not all of the process will be in McConnell’s able hands. On Thursday, Kavanaugh and one of his accusers, professor Christine Blasey Ford, will take the floor to publicly testify about their experiences. At that point, McConnell will be in the same boat as Trump — watching and waiting.