*By Christian Smith*
No matter which judge President Donald Trump chooses from his Supreme Court shortlist, they will all have a similar impact on America's highest court, says UC-Irvine law professor Rick Hasen.
"They're all very conservative," Hasen said of federal judges Brett Kavanaugh, Raymond Kethledge, and Amy Coney Barrett, whose names are [most often cited](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/schumer-urges-trump-to-tap-merrick-garland-for-supreme-court/2018/07/05/ca12f0be-805e-11e8-b0ef-fffcabeff946_story.html?utm_term=.f37ee02ac02c) as being at the top of the president's list to fill the seat being vacated by Justice Anthony Kennedy.
"They're all likely to be on the same side on issues involving abortion, on issues involving voting rights, on issues involving affirmative action. The kinds of things where Justice Kennedy was the swing justice, all three of these are likely to be pretty much the same."
Judging from the comments of TV pundits and news reporters, the betting seems strong that Trump will wind up choosing Judge Kavanaugh, a federal appeals court judge who sits on the District of Columbia circuit. Hasen says picking Kavanaugh would make sense because "he's very much like Neil Gorsuch," Trump's first Supreme Court nominee, who, like Kavanaugh, also has "very well respected Ivy League pedigree."
The eventual nominee will only need 50 votes to be confirmed, thanks to rules adopted by Senate leadership in 2017. Vice President Mike Pence would serve as the tiebreaker if the votes are split.
Two Senators who could make or break any of these nominees' chances are Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME). Both are pro-choice Republicans, which means the question of overturning Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court case establishing a woman's right to have an abortion, will likely take center stage in the confirmation hearing process.
President Trump is expected to announce his nominee in a prime-time ceremony Monday night.
For the full segment [click here.](https://cheddar.com/videos/president-trumps-supreme-court-shortlist-gets-shorter)
Melania Trump says it’s “heartbreaking” to see teens grapple with the fallout after they’re targeted by malicious and sexually explicit online content.
President Donald Trump's administration has given New York until March 21 to comply with its order to halt Manhattan’s new congestion pricing system.
The Social Security Administration’s acting commissioner has stepped down from her role at the agency over Department of Government Efficiency requests.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum says her government is not ruling out filing a civil lawsuit against Google if it maintains its stance of calling the stretch of sea between northeastern Mexico and the southeastern United States the “Gulf of America.” Sheinbaum, in her morning press conference on Thursday, said the president’s decree to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico is restricted to the “continental shelf of the United States” because Mexico still controls much of the body of water. “We have sovereignty over our continental shelf,” she said.
The White House says news organizations that refuse to use President Donald Trump’s new name for the Gulf of Mexico are telling “lies."
U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum “will not go unanswered,” European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen vowed on Tuesday, adding that they will trigger toug
President Donald Trump is hitting foreign steel and aluminum with a 25% tax. If that sounds familiar, it’s because he did pretty much the same thing during
A study of news influencers reveals how Donald Trump had an edge over Kamala Harris in the presidential campaign.
A group of investors led by Elon Musk says it is offering $97.4 billion to buy the nonprofit behind OpenAI.
President Donald Trump has ordered the U.S. to stop minting pennies. His surprise announcement comes after decades of unsuccessful efforts to phase out the 1-cent coin. Advocates for ditching the penny cite its high production cost and limited utility. Fans of the penny cite its usefulness in charity drives and relative bargain in production costs compared with the nickel. Here's a look at some question surrounding Trump's order.
