3 ▁Democr ats . ▁G ors uch ▁was ▁sw orn ▁in ▁as ▁an ▁associate ▁justice ▁of ▁the ▁Supreme ▁Court ▁on ▁April ▁ 1 0 ▁by ▁Kennedy . ▁ ▁Nom ination ▁of ▁Bre tt ▁K avan augh ▁ ▁On ▁June ▁ 2 7 , ▁ 2 0 1 8 , ▁Justice ▁Anthony ▁Kennedy ▁announced ▁his ▁ret irement ▁from ▁the ▁Supreme ▁Court , ▁effective ▁July ▁ 3 1 , ▁giving ▁Trump ▁an ▁opportunity ▁to ▁send ▁a ▁second ▁Supreme ▁Court ▁nom ine e ▁to ▁the ▁Senate ▁for ▁confirm ation . ▁K avan augh ▁was ▁officially ▁nominated ▁on ▁July ▁ 9 , ▁selected ▁from ▁among ▁a ▁list ▁of ▁" 2 5 ▁highly ▁qualified ▁potential ▁nom ine es " ▁considered ▁by ▁the ▁Trump ▁Administration . ▁K avan augh ' s ▁nom ination ▁was ▁officially ▁sent ▁to ▁the ▁Senate ▁on ▁July ▁ 1 0 , ▁ 2 0 1 8 , ▁and ▁confirm ation ▁hear ings ▁began ▁on ▁September ▁ 4 . ▁The ▁hear ings ▁took ▁longer ▁than ▁initially ▁expected ▁over ▁ob jections ▁to ▁the ▁with hold ing ▁of ▁documents ▁pert inent ▁to ▁K avan augh ' s ▁time ▁in ▁the ▁Bush ▁administration ▁as ▁a ▁lawyer , ▁and ▁due ▁to ▁the ▁presence ▁of ▁protest ors . ▁ ▁On ▁September ▁ 1 6 , ▁ 2 0 1 8 , ▁Christ ine ▁Bl ase y ▁Ford ▁alleg ed ▁K avan augh ▁sex ually ▁assault ed ▁her ▁in ▁ 1 9 8 2 , ▁in ▁what ▁she ▁described ▁as ▁an ▁attempted ▁ra pe . ▁The ▁accus ation ▁delayed ▁the ▁scheduled ▁September