WHAT A DEAL

Biden Plans to Nominate a Federal Anti-Abortion Judge in Kentucky, Reports Suggest

President Joe Biden reportedly intends to nominate an anti-abortion judge in Kentucky district court in the aftermath of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.

President Joe Biden plans to nominate a judge with anti-abortion views to Kentucky district court following the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade, two state Democrats told CNN. The death of Roe effectively made abortion partially or totally illegal in at least 26 states so far, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights. Kentucky has a 2019 trigger ban for abortion that a judge blocked a few days ago, Reuters reported. Biden intends to place Republican lawyer Chad Meredith in a federal judgeship in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky as part of a likely deal struck with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Democratic Rep. John Yarmuth told The Courier-Journal. Meredith previously served as deputy counsel to former Republican Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin. White House staff told the state’s current Democratic Governor, Andy Beshear, about Meredith’s potential nomination “late last week,” Beshear said in a Thursday press conference. “If the President makes that nomination, it is indefensible,” Beshear said.