Wis. Reaction To Trump Court Pick Stick To Party Lines
MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson says he has no litmus test on abortion for President Donald Trump's nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Johnson praised the pick of Brett Kavanaugh for the nation's highest court, telling reporters Tuesday that he hopes for a swift confirmation before the November election.
Johnson says he would like to see the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion overturned, but he's not going to use Kavanaugh's position on that as a litmus test for confirmation. Johnson says, "My only litmus test is someone as a judge apply the law, not alter it."
Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin is voicing concerns about Kavanaugh without saying whether she will oppose his confirmation like she did Trump's previous nominee Neil Gorsuch.
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8:17 a.m.
Reaction to President Donald Trump's pick for the next U.S. Supreme Court justice is breaking along partisan lines in Wisconsin.
Republican Sen. Ron Johnson says he looks forward to a quick approval of Trump's nominee, Brett Kavanaugh. Johnson says it appears Kavanaugh is a judge who applies the Constitution "as written, not altering it to reach a result."
But Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin is sounding warnings without saying yet whether she will vote to confirm Kavanaugh.
She says in a statement that "People need an independent justice who will not overturn the law of the land on women's health, health care for people with pre-existing conditions, and the constitutional rights and freedoms of all Americans."
Baldwin says that is what she will be considering as she reviews the nomination.
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