The White House is fighting to regain control of the confirmation of Supreme Court pick Brett Kavanaugh, but a controversy is widening over its role in an FBI investigation into allegations against the nominee of sexual assault and misconduct. New signs emerged Sunday that the administration is taking steps to make sure the probe is narrow and focused -- as Republicans seek to forestall further delays to the confirmation process or another erosion of the judge's position. So while President Donald Trump may have been forced to reopen an FBI background check on Kavanaugh, it is clear he is determined to get the process back on track in a strategy already inflaming partisan discord over the nomination. Such a timetable would keep alive the effort to present GOP base voters with a generational deliverable and a solid conservative majority on the Supreme Court that could juice turnout for midterm elections in November that are looking favorable for Democrats. But the extent to which the White House is controlling the process is likely to stoke fresh turmoil around a nomination that is already certain to trigger long-term political reverberations.

Source: CNN October 01, 2018 13:21 UTC