Welcome to the online version of From the policy deskevening bulletin that brings you the latest reporting and analysis from the campaign trail, the White House and Capitol Hill from the NBC News Politics team.
In today’s edition, senior national political correspondent Sahil Kapur looks at the excitement among Republicans over the prospect of confirming new Supreme Court justices if Donald Trump wins. Plus, senior political analyst Chuck Todd breaks down the questions the VP debate leaves for the top of the ticket.
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Republicans are preparing to confirm more Supreme Court justices if Trump wins
By Sahil Kapoor
During Donald Trump’s tenure in the White House, Republicans assembled the most conservative Supreme Court in a century. Now they are excited about the prospect of bolstering those efforts if he wins four more years, confirming more conservative justices as well as lower court judges.
GOP senators expect at least one Supreme Court vacancy in Trump’s second term — and if he defeats Vice President Kamala Harris, Republicans will likely control the Senate, which handles the confirmation process. Two long-serving conservative justices will retire in the coming years: Clarence Thomas, 76, and Samuel Alito, 74.
“High — extremely high,” said Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., a member of the Judiciary Committee, when asked about Trump’s ability to appoint more Supreme Court justices if Republicans win the election. election.
“I think you’re going to see at least one retirement on the conservative side. I’m speculating, but I’m pretty confident about it,” Hawley said, adding that Republicans will probably look for more potential justices in the mold of Thomas and Alito — “especially if we replace one of these individuals.”
If Trump gets two more Supreme Court nominations, he would appoint more than half of the court — something no president has done since Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who is running to be the next Senate GOP leader, said: “The three we confirmed were legacies, one of the best things the administration and President Trump have done with the Republican majority. Five almost seems like too much to hope for.
On the campaign trail, Harris didn’t talk much about the prospect of Supreme Court vacancies under the next president. However, in Roe v. He has repeatedly criticized Trump for choosing three judges who were critical to the five-judge majority that overturned Wade and ruled that presidents have immunity for certain official acts in the Trump case.
Trump, who campaigned hard for the Supreme Court in 2016, was less vocal this time around as he defended his role in overturning federal abortion rights. His campaign did not respond when asked if he would release another list of high court prospects to choose from if there is another vacancy to fill.
The “happy warrior” VP debate leaves questions unanswered for the top of the ticket
By Chuck Todd
Given America’s polarization and the daily tone and tenor of this presidential election, people would be forgiven for thinking they’ve stumbled upon another era in American politics instead of the 2024 vice presidential debate.
In some ways, this debate felt like a throwback to the VP debates America was accustomed to in the pre-Trump era — essentially a week-long hiatus between the first and second presidential debates. The flashback vibe I got was similar to the 2000 and 2004 Dick Cheney debates (vs. Joe Lieberman and John Edwards) or the 2008 and 2012 Joe Biden debates (vs. Sarah Palin and Paul Ryan).
Going into this debate, I assumed that both vice presidential candidates would focus more on the top of the ticket. And for the most part, the two played for writing. In nearly every response, Tim Waltz went after Donald Trump and routinely found ways to praise JD Vance in a way that would appear anti-Trump. Vance would similarly try to overshadow Walz by contrasting her with Kamala Harris by praising her empathy and concern for the problem.
But what surprised me a bit was that Waltz was more aggressive about Trump than he was about Vance Harris.
Ultimately, the VP candidate’s No. 1 job in these debates is to make a case against the top of the ticket. So it’s quite interesting to me that the strategy Vance chose was designed to improve his personal ratings.
Waltz’s performance was the definition of understatement. Some of his nervousness, especially at the beginning, has passed. Obviously, he was telling the truth when he told Harris during the VP vetting process that the debate was not a strong fit for him. But Walz was strong against Trump, especially on Jan. 6 and around the time he filed the abortion lawsuit. He was generally less adept at defending Biden-Harris’ actions.
🗞️ The best stories of the day
- 📂 Trump’s new claim: Trump was running “primarily” as a personal candidate for office and not as president as he sought to overturn his 2020 election defeat, special counsel Jack Smith’s team argued in a filing Wednesday that revealed new details of the federal election meddling case. More →
- 🌀 Impact of the storm: While Biden visited North and South Carolina, Harris traveled to Georgia to see the catastrophic damage caused by Hurricane Helene. More →
- ↗️ Increase: Walz is taking on a more aggressive travel and media schedule after the VP debate, including holding events in Pennsylvania, Nevada and Arizona and attending fundraisers in Ohio, California and Washington. More →
- 📉 Crime is decreasing: Trump has described crime in the United States as out of control, but data over the years shows that crime is down in cities and towns across the country. Read more →
- 🔀 Turning the tables: Harris’ campaign targeted Trump’s age in paid media for the first time since becoming the Democratic nominee with a new digital ad. More →
- 🗳 Campaign applications: Harris focused his Nevada campaign messages on Filipino Americans, a push to capitalize on the group’s support as the largest ethnic group within the Asian American voting bloc. More →
- ⚖️ Battleground Balance: Democratic Sen. Bob Casey and Republican Dave McCormick have sought to balance the top of the ticket in the Pennsylvania Senate race, expressing some agreement with Harris and Trump’s policies while highlighting areas of disagreement. More →
- 🥼 Call home: Democratic super PAC House Majority PAC is running ads featuring doctors accusing Republicans on abortion in key races. But in at least four cases, the doctors do not live in the districts advertised by the group. More →
- 🎸 Tears on Swift’s guitar: A Texas man smashed Taylor Swift’s signature guitar after paying $4,000 as a “joke” at a charity event, despite saying he wasn’t happy with Swift’s endorsement of Harris. More →
- Watch live from the campaign trail →
That’s all for the Policy Desk for now. If you have feedback – like it or not – send us an email politicsnewsletter@nbcuni.com
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