Republicans have President Trump to thank for this. Twice already in his tenure there has been a Supreme Court opening, and twice he has nominated a conservative-leaning judge whom the rest of his party can get behind. Senate Republican leaders had to bust through a few rules to get Justice Neil M. Gorsuch on the court last year, but this year they should be able to confirm Kavanaugh with a simple Republican majority, which, as we wrap up a week's worth of hearings, it looks as if he should have.

AD

AD

The timing for Trump couldn't be more perfect. The curtains hiding the naked chaos of his White House were ripped open this week by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Bob Woodward and, most damningly, by someone within his own administration. The bottom line is that even his own aides don't trust or respect the president.

“The disclosures this week crystallized what has long been evident throughout the Trump presidency,” wrote The Post's Philip Rucker, Ashley Parker, Josh Dawsey and Greg Jaffe. “A cadre of administration officials have worked to curb his instincts on a range of issues, from national security to trade to immigration."

The paranoia is consuming Trump, they report. And the whole dumpster fire is making the open revolts and tribal partisanship of the Kavanaugh hearings look tame by comparison.

Senate Republicans are no doubt just as frustrated with Trump as are some in his administration. The list of humiliations Trump has forced upon Republicans in Congress on policy alone is long: trade; immigration; deference to Russia and the blasting of traditional Western alliances; the denigration of the Justice Department and, arguably, the entire legal system.

AD

AD

I've wondered what Congress's last straw will be with Trump. So far, the Senate has tiptoed right up to passing legislation that would put a check on Trump on many of these things, but with the exception of forcing him to sign sanctions on Russia last summer, they've settled for toothless, nonbinding resolutions that express their displeasure.

Some outspoken Republican lawmakers have had it with how Congress has treated a president who doesn't seem to share their core ideological values.

But this quote from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), just before Anthony M. Kennedy retired from the Supreme Court in the summer, underscores why he thinks all of those humiliations, and all of Trump's drama, is worth it. It's for moments like this week, when Republicans in Congress have a chance to shape an entire branch of government.

AD

AD

“I think it’s the single most important thing we’re doing,” McConnell said in an interview with Politico in June. “My view was the American people had given us an opportunity to move the country right of center.”

It's an added bonus that Republicans' likely victory with Kavanaugh will come a month before they face voters in the November congressional midterm elections. Republicans' majority in the House of Representatives is extremely shaky, and their majority in the Senate could be at stake in a really big blue wave. Republicans don't have a ton of legislative accomplishments to talk about besides a tax bill, but they will have Kavanaugh front and center in voters' minds.

So Trump didn't just help congressional Republicans shape the highest court in the land for possibly a generation. He could also, by extension, help them hold onto seats in crucial midterm elections where Republicans' majority is at stake.