Trump picks Kavanaugh, a GOP favorite, for Supreme Court

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has picked a favorite of the Republican legal establishment, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, for the Supreme Court.

With Kavanaugh, Trump is replacing a swing vote on the nine-member court with a staunch conservative already being cheered by top Republican senators.

Kavanaugh serves on the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. He's expected to be less receptive to abortion and gay rights than the justice he would replace, Anthony Kennedy. He's also taken an expansive view of executive power and has favored limits on investigating the president.

The Democratic leader in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, has wasted no time to say he'll oppose Kavanaugh. Schumer says Trump "has put reproductive rights and freedoms and health care protections for millions of Americans on the judicial chopping block."