The only issue in Washington over the last week has been the suitability of an individual for high office – but then that has been the issue ever since Donald Trump’s election. Bob Woodward’s new book and the anonymous op-ed by a senior official have merely confirmed, albeit in hair-raising new detail, the long obvious: Mr Trump is so blatantly unfit to be president that those who work for him ignore or thwart his orders.

His ability to maintain his position could yet depend on the other individual in the spotlight: Brett Kavanaugh. The supreme court nominee’s confirmation hearings did not offer quite the same drama as the White House circus, despite red-robed “Handmaids” highlighting the risk to reproductive rights, vocal protesters inside the room and devastating questioning by the California Democrat Kamala Harris. That was by design. Mr Kavanaugh went out of his way – more than “three zip codes”, in his terms – to say as little as possible. The administration withheld masses of documents on his record as an aide in the George W Bush White House.

What we did learn, despite a process legal scholars have described as unprecedented in its “hurried and defective” nature, came largely thanks to disclosures by the Democratic committee member Cory Booker and a leak to media. It was in essence confirmatory rather than revelatory. There is still every expectation that he will be confirmed by the judiciary committee and then the full Senate later this month. This is ultimately more consequential than the attention-grabbing accounts of “resistance” within the administration and may be a key part of Mr Trump’s legacy, however long he lasts. It will put conservatives in firm and likely long-term control of the supreme court, endangering both voting and abortion rights, and incidentally putting it out of step with public opinion.

No one anticipated that the judge would shun the simple decency of shaking the hand of the father of a Parkland shooting victim. But he was already known as a maximalist on gun rights who, in one dissenting opinion, said he would have invalidated DC’s gun registration law and ban on assault weapons. While he sidestepped questions on presidential power, his very expansive view is well-established. John Dean, the Nixon White House counsel jailed for his role in the Watergate scandal, testified that confirming him would produce the “most presidential-powers friendly” supreme court in the modern age. That would be a grave concern at any time. It is an immense one now. And despite disingenuous attempts to blur his position on abortion law, Planned Parenthood said: “We already know how Brett Kavanaugh would rule on Roe v Wade, because the president told us so.”

As a candidate, Mr Trump vowed to appoint supreme court justices who would overturn the landmark abortion ruling. It was critical to his success – and he knew it. “Even if you think I’m the worst, you’re going to vote for me. You know why? Judges,” he told one rally. A quarter of Trump voters cited the supreme court as the most important factor in backing him. And it is critical in maintaining his position now.

Senior Republicans support this disastrous president, who shows such flagrant disregard and even disdain for the constitution and its values, in large part because of his pledge to turn the court to the right. The impact of this appointment would not be quite so great had senate Republicans not stolen a seat by refusing to grant Barack Obama’s nominee Merrick Garland even a hearing; then rewritten the rules to shoo in Mr Trump’s candidate Neil Gorsuch. They have handled Mr Kavanaugh’s confirmation in similarly dubious fashion.

The real issue is not individuals, but the rottenness of those backing them. We did not need the last week to tell us that Mr Kavanaugh is bad news on the supreme court and that Mr Trump is much more so in the White House. Despising the president is not an excuse for Republicans; it shows that they fully understand the damage they are causing. One hopes that voters will draw the obvious conclusions about Republicans’ fitness for office at the polls this November.