Trump's Supreme Court nominations have long-term effects

If you’ve been mowing the lawn or outdoors enjoying another summer evening — thanks for spraying for mosquitos, City of McCook, and please keep it up — you may just be getting around to reading today’s Gazette.

If so, you may already know who President Donald Trump has nominated to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy.

If observers are right — and they could be completely wrong — the president had narrowed his choices down to four impressive nominees, all guaranteed to face opposition in the Senate but all likely to be confirmed like Trump’s previous nominee, Neil Gorsuch.

All federal appeals judges, they include Brett Kavanaugh, Raymond Kethledge, Amy Coney Barrett and Thomas Hardiman.

Hardiman, runner-up when Gorsuch was nominated, served with Trump’s sister on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia, was the first person in his family to go to college and drove a taxi to pay for his law degree.

Kavanaugh was a former law clerk to Kennedy, the traditional swing vote on the Supreme Court, which has raised concerns among conservatives.

Barrett is a Roman Catholic mother of seven, one a special needs child and two born in Haiti.

Kethledge also served as a clerk to Kennedy, and authored a book on leadership last year.

Trump’s dealings with North Korea in an effort to end its nuclear program is naturally receiving a lot of attention, as are his immigration policies and the investigation into Russian influence on the 2016 election.

His Supreme Court nominations, however, will have an influence on American life for decades after Trump is gone.