Welcome to the online edition of From the Politics Desk. This evening newsletter brings you the latest reporting and analysis from campaigns, the White House and Capitol Hill from the NBC News politics team.
In today’s edition, senior national political reporter Sahil Kapur examines the excitement within the Republican Party over the potential confirmation of a new Supreme Court justice if Donald Trump wins. Plus, Chief Political Analyst Chuck Todd breaks down the biggest questions in the vice presidential debate.
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Republicans confirm more Supreme Court justices will be added if President Trump wins
Written by Sahil Kapur
During Donald Trump’s White House tenure, Republicans assembled the most conservative Supreme Court in a century. Now, they’re excited by the prospect that if he wins another four years, he could build on that effort by gaining approval from more conservative judges as well as lower court judges. There is.
Republican senators widely expect there will be at least one Supreme Court vacancy during President Trump’s second term, and if he defeats Vice President Kamala Harris, Republicans will take control of the Senate, which handles the confirmation process. There is a high probability that it will. Justices Clarence Thomas, 76, and Samuel Alito, 74, are two long-serving conservative justices who will be placed on retirement monitoring in the coming years.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri), chairman of the Judiciary Committee, was asked about the likelihood that President Trump would have the opportunity to appoint more Supreme Court justices if Republicans win the election, saying, “High, very high.” High or certain.β election.
“On the conservative side, at least one person is going to retire. It’s a guess, but I’m pretty sure of that,” Hawley said, adding that Republicans will likely follow the mold of Thomas and Alito. , added that it would look for more potential judges, “especially if we were to replace one of these individuals.”
If Trump had been elected to the Supreme Court two more times, he would have appointed more than half of the Supreme Court justices, something no president since Franklin D. Roosevelt has done.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who is running to become the next Senate Republican leader, said, “The three things we’ve identified are a legacy, the best of what the administration and President Trump have done with the Republican majority.” That’s one of the things.” Five seems almost too much to expect. β
During her campaign, Harris did not say much about the possibility of a Supreme Court vacancy under the next president. But she selected three justices essential to the five-member majority that overturned Roe v. Wade and ruled that the president has immunity for some official actions in a case involving Trump. He has repeatedly criticized Trump.
Trump campaigned heavily on the Supreme Court in 2016, but has said little about it this time around as he defends his role in the federal government’s nullification of abortion rights. do not have. His campaign did not respond to a question about whether it would release a new list of high court candidates to choose from if another vacancy becomes available.
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‘Happy Warrior’ Vice Presidential Debate, Top Ticket Questions Left Unanswered
Written by Chuck Todd
Given America’s polarization and the daily tone and tenor of this presidential election, it’s hard to believe that people have stumbled upon a rerun of a different era in American politics rather than the 2024 vice presidential debate. No wonder.
In some ways, this debate is similar to the vice presidential debates America was accustomed to in the pre-Trump era, with essentially a weeklong break between the first and second presidential debates. It felt like a throwback to. The flashback vibes I felt most were the 2000 and 2004 Dick Cheney debates (vs. Joe Lieberman and John Edwards), or the 2008 and 2012 Joe Biden debates (vs. Sara Palin and Paul Ryan).
Going into this debate, I expected both vice presidential candidates to focus more on the top of the ticket. And most of the time, they were just typing and playing. In nearly every answer, Tim Walz went after Donald Trump and regularly looked for ways to praise J.D. Vance in order to appear anti-Trump. Vance similarly sought to throw shade at Walz, praising her empathy and concern for issues, and contrasting her with that of Kamala Harris.
But what was a little surprising to me was that Walz turned out to be more aggressive against Trump than Vance was against Harris.
After all, the vice presidential candidate’s most important job in these debates is to make the case to the top of the ticket. Therefore, it is very interesting to me that the strategy chosen by Vance appears to be designed to improve his own personal reputation.
The waltz performance was the very definition of uneven. I could really feel his nervousness, especially at the beginning. He was clearly telling the truth when he reportedly told Harris during the vice president vetting process that debate was not for him. But Walz was bullish on the case against Trump, particularly when he was prosecuting the Jan. 6 and abortion cases. He wasn’t very good at defending Biden and Harris’ actions in general.
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ποΈ Today’s Top News
π Trump’s new lawsuit: Trump was acting “essentially” as a private presidential candidate, not as president, as he sought to overturn his 2020 election defeat, says special counsel Jack. Smith’s team argued in a lawsuit filed Wednesday, revealing new details of the federal election interference case. Continue reading β π Storm aftermath: Biden visited North Carolina and South Carolina, and Harris traveled to Georgia to see the devastation caused by Hurricane Helen. Continue reading β βοΈ Strengthening: After the vice presidential debate, Walz will travel more aggressively, hosting events in Pennsylvania, Nevada and Arizona, and participating in fundraisers in Ohio, California and Washington. and working on the media schedule. Continue reading β π Crime is on the decline: President Trump portrays crime in the United States as being out of control, but years of data show crime is on the decline in cities and towns across the country. is shown. Continue reading β π The tables have turned: Harris’ campaign targets Trump’s age in paid media for the first time since he became the Democratic nominee in a new digital ad. Continue reading β π³ Campaign appeal: Harris aims her campaign message in Nevada toward Filipino Americans, leveraging the group’s support as the largest ethnic group in the Asian American voting bloc It is said that Continue reading β βοΈ Balancing battleground: Democratic Sen. Bob Casey and Republican Sen. Dave McCormick strive to balance the top spot in Pennsylvania’s Senate race, with Harris and Trump While expressing agreement with some of the policies, they also highlighted areas of disagreement. Diverge. Continue reading β π₯Ό House Call: Democratic Super PAC House Majority PAC is running ads featuring doctors slamming Republicans on abortion in key races. However, in at least four cases, the doctors do not live in the areas advertised by the group. Continue reading β πΈ Tears over Swift’s guitar: Texas man isn’t happy with Swift’s support for Harris after paying $4,000 for Taylor Swift’s autographed guitar as a ‘joke’ at charity event Despite that, I broke the guitar. Read more β Follow the live broadcast from the campaign trail β
That’s all from the political desk. If you have any feedback, love it or hate it, email us at politicsnewsletter@nbcuni.com.
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