Conservative stalwart Justice Kavanaugh picked for US Supreme Court

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday nominated conservative  as a Supreme Court Judge, a decision that could have far—reaching implications on everything from abortion to guns to immigration and alter the balance of the ideologically divided apex court.

President Trump picked Justice Kavanaugh, a conservative stalwart who has deep ties to the Republican establishment, from an original list of 25 judges, which also included prominent Indian—American judge Amul Thapar.

Justice Kavanaugh’s nomination has set the stage for a bruising confirmation battle as Democrats immediately vowed to oppose the President’s choice of the vacancy created by 81-year-old Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement. Announcing Justice Kavanaugh’s nomination in a prime-time event at the East Room of the White House, Trump described the 53-year-old from Maryland, currently a judge in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, as one with “impeccable credentials and one of the finest legal minds of our times”.