President Donald Trump on Monday night nominated Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the United States Supreme Court. President Trump paid tribute to Judge Kavanaugh and said:
“Judge Kavanaugh has impeccable credentials, unsurpassed qualifications, and a proven commitment to equal justice under the law. A graduate of Yale College and Yale Law School, Judge Kavanaugh currently teaches at Harvard, Yale, and Georgetown.
Throughout legal circles, he is considered a judge’s judge — a true thought leader among his peers. He is a brilliant jurist, with a clear and effective writing style, universally regarded as one of the finest and sharpest legal minds of our time.”
Judge Kavanaugh has impeccable credentials, unsurpassed qualifications, and a proven commitment to equal justice under the law. A graduate of Yale College and Yale Law School, Judge Kavanaugh currently teaches at Harvard, Yale, and Georgetown.
He is a brilliant jurist, with a clear, effective writing style, and is universally regarded as one of the finest and sharpest legal minds in the U.S..
The President’s nomination immediately drew the criticisms from Democrats in the Senate. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer warned Democrats that if they don’t put up a brutal fight over the next Supreme Court justice, there will be hell to pay from the Democratic base.
Senator Kamala Harris of California, a member of the Judiciary Committee, said: “Judge Brett Kavanaugh represents a direct and fundamental threat to [the] promise of equality and so I will oppose his nomination to the Supreme Court.” She added: “Specifically, as a replacement for Justice Anthony Kennedy, his nomination presents an existential threat to the health care of hundreds of millions of Americans.”
Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, an anti-abortion Democrat up for reelection this fall, didn’t even bother to wait for the President’s official nomination. “I will oppose the nomination the president will make tonight because it represents a corrupt bargain with the far right, big corporations, and Washington special interests,” Casey tweeted shortly before noon.
Some other Democrats said they opposed Kavanaugh’s nomination on the basis that Trump should not make a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court while he is under investigation.
Muslim Advocates Executive Director Farhana Khera has joined the Democrats in opposing the President’s nomination to the Supreme Court. In a statement released soon after Trump announced Kavanaugh as the replacement to Justice Anthony Kennedy, Khera said Kavanaugh on the high court would give a “green light” to the Trump’s “bigoted agenda.”
Khera said:
“Given President Trump’s notorious and well-documented hostility toward Muslims, immigrants, people of color, the LGBTQ community, and women, Americans need — and deserve — a Supreme Court justice who will protect all Americans and not be a rubber-stamp for the President’s discriminatory and bigoted policies. Unfortunately, Kavanaugh will only further threaten to erode our nation’s promise of freedom, justice and equality for all.
Based on his judicial and professional record, Kavanaugh on the court would give Trump a green light to put his bigoted agenda in place without checks, without balances, and without regard to the rule of law.
Recent Supreme Court decisions — like in Masterpiece Cakeshop and on the Muslim Ban – underscore how this Supreme Court is willing to show clear religious favoritism. Adding Kavanaugh to the Court would be disastrous for anyone who cares about religious freedom and equal protection for all when stacked against the bigotry of President Trump.
Kavanaugh would weaken the role of the judiciary in protecting our democracy at a time when it is critically needed.
We urge the Senate to reject this nomination.”
The Trump administration is looking to have Kavanaugh confirmed in the Senate before October 1, 2018.