The Front-Runner to Replace Justice Kennedy: Brett Kavanaugh
*By Conor White*
The race to fill Justice Anthony Kennedy's seat on the Supreme Court is just beginning, but a front runner has already emerged, according to Heather Timmons, Quartz's White House correspondent.
"The name you're hearing the most in Washington has been Brett Kavanaugh," she explained. "He's a U.S. District Court of Appeals judge in DC, he clerked for Kennedy. Trump made a point of saying he's consulted with Kennedy about who his replacement should be, and it's expected that Kennedy is going to recommend Kavanaugh."
Despite reportedly being a late add to the president's list of potential nominees, 53-year-old Kavanaugh checks a lot of boxes for conservatives: he represented George W. Bush in the 2000 Florida recount, was a lawyer for Ken Starr during the investigation into Bill Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky, and most recently he dissented when his court upheld an opinion requiring the government to facilitate an abortion for an undocumented teen in U.S. custody.
In an interview Thursday on Cheddar, Timmons dove even deeper into why Kavanaugh could be Trump's pick.
"He has a history of pro-business rulings, he decided a case that said the Consumer Finance Protection Board was unconstitutional, which allowed Trump to replace the head of that with Mick Mulvaney."
And while many expect President Trump to attempt to ram through a nominee with a very conservative history in an effort to overturn Roe v. Wade, Timmons said that might not be the best move when it comes to the midterm elections.
"Right now support across America for legal abortion in most cases is at 57%, it's as strong as it's been in 20 years. Although Trump has indicated he wants to pull this court to the right, America and American voters are not going towards the right. So to put somebody in one of these seats that is considered a very far-right person could ultimately hurt the Republicans in the midterms."
For the full segment, [click here.](https://cheddar.com/videos/may-i-have-this-seat-predicting-next-supreme-court-justice)
Concerns over inflation have become one of the biggest worries for executives. A survey from The Conference Board shows that more than 900 CEOs consider inflation a top tier concern, a major shift from last year's survey that had it as a low-level concern. Rebecca Ray, Executive Vice President, Human Capital, The Conference Board joined Cheddar's Opening Bell for more.
Jordan Zakarin, Media Producer at A More Perfect Union, joined Cheddar News to break down the latest from Colorado, where at least 8,700 Kroger employees walked off the job in demand of increased benefits and wages.
With the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing rapidly approaching, clouds of controversy continue to swirl around China's treatment of the Uyghur Muslim minority population, its surveillance state, and security for visiting athletes. Phelim Kine, China correspondent for Politico, joined Cheddar to break down the big storylines surrounding the Beijing Games and highlight what he saw as the complete disregard by top corporate sponsors like P&G, Airbnb, Intel, Visa, and Coca-Cola, for the controversies. "They spend $100 million for every Olympics that they sponsor, and they have frankly shown absolute willful indifference to any type of entreaty to essentially be more vocal about their concerns about human rights in China," he said. Kine also touched on the data privacy fears for athletes as visiting contingents are being told to carry burner phones to avoid security risks.
Texas's six-week abortion ban remains in effect after a federal appeals court ruling on Monday. The U.S. court of appeals for the fifth circuit temporarily transferred the case to the Texas Supreme Court, which is expected to leave the dispute in limbo for months to come. Katie Barlow, attorney and media editor of SCOTUSblog, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
Hugh Odom, founder and president of Vertical Consultants, shared his expertise on telecommunications with Cheddar on the safety issue raised about 5G deployment by airlines. The installation was partially delayed again on Tuesday as the airlines warned of potentially catastrophic delays in a letter to the Biden administration. Later, both Verizon and AT&T relented and put a pause on some of the implementations. "The first thing the Biden administration needs to do is get everybody in the room and say, look, aviation industry, identify the problem — wireless industry, come up with a solution," said Odom.
Dave Levinthal, deputy Washington Bureau chief at Insider, joins Cheddar News to discuss Gallup's new survey that reveals more Americans leaned Republican by the end of 2021.
Women's March ATX rally, Saturday, Oct., 2, 2021, at the Texas State Capitol in Austin, Texas. An expected decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in the coming year to severely restrict abortion rights or overturn Roe v. Wade entirely is setting off a renewed round of abortion battles in state legislatures. (AP Photo/Stephen Spillman, File)
Inflation in the U.S. is only getting hotter. The 12-month inflation rate for December 2021 was the highest in nearly 40 years - continuing the trend seen at the close of 2021.
The Consumer Price Index increased 7% in the 12-month period ending in December, marking the fastest increase since 1982. Scott Wren, Senior Global Market Strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute, joined Cheddar's Movers for more.
If President Biden runs for re-election in 2024, he may not have anyone to debate. The Republican National Committee sent a letter to the commission on presidential debates, saying the RNC will require candidates to pledge not to participate in those general election debates. Paris Dennard, RNC national spokesperson, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
