U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia is one of several swing votes that could determine the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court.
A Democrat who is moderately pro-life, Manchin has not said how he will vote on Kavanaugh’s confirmation, the Washington Free Beacon reports.
While Manchin did support President Donald Trump’s first nominee to the high court, Neil Gorsuch, he is being lobbied heavily by abortion activists to oppose Kavanaugh. Manchin has a mixed voting record on pro-life issues.
A sign of hope, on Wednesday, Manchin did praise Kavanaugh as a “very fine person of high moral standards.”
“I think he seems to be a very fine person of high moral standards, a family person who’s very involved in his community, has all the right qualities. He’s well-educated,” Manchin told West Virginia MetroNews. “And with that, you know, we have to just look at making sure that the rule of law and the Constitution is going to be followed, and that’s going to basically preempt anything else he does.”
He said he plans to listen to what his constituents want before voting. His website also has a banner asking for people’s opinions about the Supreme Court.
“… I’ll be hearing from West Virginians and their opinion. And I think they have, also, a right. And that’s who I work for. They’re my boss. And we want to hear from them, too, during this process,” Manchin said.
SIGN THE PETITION: Vote to Confirm Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh
With Republicans holding a narrow, two-member majority in the Senate, every vote to confirm the conservative justice counts, and there are a number of swing votes that could make or break the confirmation.
Two Republican Senators, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine, are being heavily lobbied by the abortion industry to oppose Kavanaugh. Both have pro-abortion voting records, but they did vote to confirm Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court in 2017.
Other possible swing votes include moderately pro-life Democrat Sen. Joe Donnelly of Indiana and pro-life Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who has concerns about Kavanaugh that relate to privacy, not pro-life issues. U.S. Sen. Bob Casey Jr. of Pennsylvania, who claims to be pro-life, said he will oppose Kavanaugh’s confirmation.
Pro-life Vice President Mike Pence can serve as a tie-breaking vote, as he has on other pro-life legislation in the past. But with so many unknowns, every U.S. senator’s vote is vitally important to the future of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said they will vote prior to the mid-term elections on confirming Kavanaugh.
A federal judge, Kavanaugh has served on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for D.C. for more than a decade, where he developed an extensive record of protecting religious liberty and enforcing restrictions on abortion. Pro-life leaders believe he would do the same on the U.S. Supreme Court.
National pro-life leaders have expressed high hopes for Kavanaugh and the future of unborn babies’ rights.
ACTION: Contact U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin.
