White House

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) on Judge Kavanaugh Supreme Court Nomination

"We are ready to roll up our sleeves and get to work," Cornyn says

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) was at the White House Monday night when President Donald Trump announced he'd selected D.C. Circuit Court Judge Brett Kavanaugh as his nominee to the Supreme Court.

The senior senator from Texas spoke with NBC 5 Tuesday about the president's pick.

"Well it is really not surprising that the president would choose someone of the caliber of Judge Kavanaugh based on the Gorsuch nomination, and the president, in fact, ran for office having said that this was a pool of potential nominees to choose from. I think one reason why President Trump was elected is because people wanted to see him nominate people like Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court," Cornyn said.

Some senators are hoping to get Kavanaugh's confirmation done by the fall.

"We will plow into it. We are ready to roll up our sleeves and get to work, but I don't think it would be a good idea to just drag this out, for the sake of extending it beyond the midterm elections," Cornyn added.

Two years ago, when President Barack Obama nominated Judge Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court, the nomination did not come to the floor with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell pointing to 2018 being an election year.

There are midterm elections in November.

"Well, Elana Kagan is a good example. There is a difference between a presidential election and a congressional midterm election. Elana Kagan, I think it was 2010, was confirmed during a run up to a midterm congressional election, and so that is exactly what we are doing here," Cornyn said.

Contact Us