Vox Sentences: America’s Next Top Justice

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A tight-lipped Trump prepares to announce his Supreme Court justice nomination; Boris Johnson resigns amid the tendering of a Brexit deal.

The SCOTUS rose ceremony is about to begin

President Donald Trump will announce his pick to replace Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy later tonight during a 9 pm Eastern, prime-time television event. [CNN / Meg Wagner]
In America’s Next Top Justice, Trump has narrowed down his list to four finalists. He was allegedly still mulling over his choice earlier in the day. [Vox / Dara Lind and Dylan Matthews]
Thomas Hardiman, the runner-up in Trump’s previous SCOTUS nomination, is known as a “Second Amendment extremist” with a pro-police stance. [Washington Post / Emma Brown]
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell recommended Hardiman, who sits on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, to the president. McConnell believes Hardiman will have the least amount of hoops to jump through in order to be confirmed by the Senate. [NYT / Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Martin]
Bret Kavanaugh, from the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, has a long and extensive résumé that McConnell fears could prevent a speedy confirmation. [Vox / Dylan Matthews]
Federal appellate judges Amy Coney Barrett and Raymond Kethledge were also in the running, though a Trump adviser said it was “very unlikely” that Trump would nominate either judge. [Politico / Josh Gerstein, Eliana Johnson, Lorraine Woellert and Matthew Nussbaum]
There are six senators — four moderate Democrats and two moderate Republicans — who will likely make or break Trump’s nomination. [CNBC / Jacob Pramuk]
The new Supreme Court pick will play a hand in shaping American policies for decades to come. With the departure of the SCOTUS swing vote, it will likely become the “most conservative court in generations.” [Bloomberg / Greg Stohr]
The decision to announce the nomination during prime-time TV hours reflects Trump’s dedication to making America “entertaining” again. He is doing so by “keeping a tight lid” on his choice to “build suspense.” [Quartz / Ephrat Livni]

Boris Johnson resigns as UK foreign secretary

Boris Johnson has resigned as the United Kingdom’s foreign secretary. He has been replaced by Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt. [Independent / Rob Merrick]
Johnson was known as a fierce advocate for the UK’s departure from the European Union and the “most effective leader of the Brexiteers.” [Economist / Dominic Raab]
He was also a big “admirer” of Trump. [Politico EU / Paul Dallison]
Johnson attributed his resignation to Prime Minister Theresa May’s Chequers deal. The deal was marketed as a “softer Brexit” that will maintain “EU rules on goods” and the European Court of Justice’s jurisdiction on trade issues. [Financial Times / Alex Barker]
In his letter of resignation, Johnson said the “dream [of Brexit] was dying, suffocated by needless self-doubt.” [Vox / Alex Ward]
Johnson’s departure follows the resignation of Brexit secretary David Davis and precedes the resignations of multiple other Parliament members, all of whom have expressed concerns over May’s Brexit plan. [BBC]

Miscellaneous

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was inundated by protesters while eating at a Kentucky restaurant. Among chants of “abolish ICE” and “where are the babies,” one protester called McConnell a “turtlehead.” [The Root / Stephen A. Crockett Jr.]
A male host at a local offshoot of the Miss America Pageant made an insensitive joke about the #MeToo movement. A former winner who survived and advocates against sexual assault has handed in her crown in protest of the joke. [Boston Magazine / Spencer Buell]
Historic rainfall and flooding in Japan killed 126 people, left dozens missing, and affected millions across the country. [Accuweather / Eric Leister]
Kim Kardashian allegedly sat one-on-one with inmates from a Californian women’s prison to talk about their concerns with life in and after prison. Because nothing encourages resiliency like talking with a reality TV star. [Complex / Tara Mahadevan]
Elon Musk said his company, SpaceX, is building a “kid-sized submarine” to rescue the Thai soccer team trapped in a cave. Meanwhile, rescuers have so far saved eight boys, with their soccer coach and four others still inside the cave. It’s unclear if Musk’s invention will be ready in time. [The Verge / Andrew Liptak]

Verbatim

“Cultivating a ‘personal brand’ has become a matter of prudence as well as ambition: there is a powerful incentive to be publicly likable at a time when strangers routinely rate and review one another over minor transactions … and people are forced to crowdsource money for their medical bills.” [Jia Tolentino on the history, world, and modern era that has cultivated the phenomenon of the present-day “millennial” / The New Yorker]