“With the Mueller situation, with the overreach of presidential power, we shouldn't put him on the bench," Senator Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says of Brett Kavanaugh. | J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo Schumer lays out path to block Kavanaugh

Senate Democrats can successfully orchestrate the rejection of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Tuesday morning, if they can convince the American people that his confirmation will lead to the undoing of abortion rights and the Affordable Care Act by the Supreme Court.

“Let me say this. I believe if we can prove to the American people, which I believe is truly the case, that this nominee will lead to a court that repeals women's reproductive freedom, repeals ACA with its protections for pre-existing conditions, we will get a majority of the Senate to vote for it,” Schumer told “CBS This Morning” when asked how he might block Kavanaugh’s confirmation. “Obviously, even if we had every Democrat, we need two Republicans. But if we can make that case, we will get a majority.”


With Republicans in control of a 51-49 majority in the Senate, Schumer (D-N.Y.) would indeed need at least two GOP lawmakers, plus the vote of every single Democrat, in order to successfully block Kavanaugh’s confirmation. But with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) away from Washington as he undergoes cancer treatment, the Republican majority is effectively 50-49, meaning Democrats might need only to peel away a single GOP senator.

But keeping Democrats unified in opposition to Kavanaugh could prove to be as tough a task as finding a GOP senator to partner with. Several Democratic senators are up for reelection this year in states where Trump won in 2016, including some where the president won by a wide margin. Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) and Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) all broke with their party last year to vote to confirm Justice Neil Gorsuch, Trump’s previous Supreme Court pick.

Trump’s selection of Kavanaugh came from a preordained list of 25 potential Supreme Court nominees curated and approved by conservative groups like the Federalist Society and the Heritage Foundation. That the president has made his Supreme Court picks from such a list has stoked fears on the left that court might fulfill a conservative wish-list on issues including abortion, same-sex marriage and healthcare.

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Schumer, in his interview with CBS, shot down the notion that Kavanaugh could be a swing vote on the court, just as Justice Anthony Kennedy, for whom he once clerked and whose seat he would fill if confirmed, was.

"I don't think he would have been put on this list had he not been one of these hard right judges. And the two issues I mentioned are important. There are several others,” Schumer said, pointing to writings by Kavanaugh indicating he does not believe presidents should be subjected to criminal investigations. “With the Mueller situation, with the overreach of presidential power, we shouldn't put him on the bench. And then, on gun rights, on LGBTQ rights, on environmental rights, he's way to the right of the American people.”

