Trump Taps Maryland Man For Supreme Court Seat

WASHINGTON, DC — President Donald Trump announced he has selected a Maryland man to serve on the Supreme Court. Trump said he will nominate Judge Brett Kavanaugh to replace U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, in a presidential address Monday night.

Kavanaugh said he was grateful and "humbled" by Trump's confidence.

"I am deeply honored..." said Kavanaugh.

Kavanaugh, 53, is a federal appeals court judge from Montgomery County who was a former aide to President George W. Bush. When Bush nominated him 15 years ago to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, he faced a tough confirmation hearing due to scrutiny from Democrats and was ultimately confirmed three years later.

Before that, Kavanaugh led the investigation that eventually resulted in President Bill Clinton's impeachment. He was a lead author of the Starr Report, an investigative account of Clinton by Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr that was released on Sept. 11, 1998.

Kavanaugh talked a little bit about his upbringing Monday, saying he was introduced to law by his mother who would practice her closing arguments at the dinner table. He was raised in Bethesda, according to The Baltimore Sun.

Kavanaugh was born in 1965 and graduated from Georgetown Prep School and Mater Dei School. He later graduated from Yale Law School and was a former clerk for Kennedy.

His wife is the town manager for Chevy Chase Village, Section 5, a position that is nonpartisan, appointed by the town council.

Kavanaugh, who said he's taught hundreds of students at Harvard Law School, has an originalist reputation similar to Justice Clarence Thomas and former Justice Antonin Scalia, Politico reported. This means he tends to believe that government should be guided by the meaning of the Constitution as it was originally written.

Trump's short list of four finalists also included Judges Thomas Hardiman, Raymond Kethledge and Amy Coney Barrett, The Times reported.

"If confirmed by the senate, I will keep an open mind in every case," Kavanaugh said Monday.

Still, it's not a done deal: Any Supreme Court Justice nominee needs a simple majority of 51 votes in Congress in order to be confirmed.

— By Patch editors Dan Hampton and Elizabeth Janney

Photo of Judge Kavanaugh courtesy of the U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. District Court.

This article has been updated.