Where They Stand

Thank you Senators Heitkamp and Donnelly.

U.S. Senators Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Joe Donnelly of Indiana voted with their party not to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.

Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia was the only Democrat in the Senate that voted to confirm.

Kavanaugh Should Not Be Confirmed

Even without considering allegations of sexual assault, Brett Kavanaugh should not be confirmed for the Supreme Court.

Nominations to the U.S. Supreme Court are made on the basis of political beliefs.  President Trump has said that he would nominate people who would overturn Roe v. Wade.  https://www.npr.org/2018/07/03/625410441/which-trump-should-be-believed-on-overturning-roe-v-wade.  Trump has said that he will nominate justices from the recommendations of the conservative Federalist Society.  https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-court/trump-adds-five-conservatives-to-list-of-possible-supreme-court-picks-idUSKBN1DH2Q2.

Members of the U.S. Senate fulfilling their duty to advice and consent in the case of the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh should vote on partisan, that is, policy grounds.

An argument can be made that the president was elected by the people (Electoral College) and should be able to put his own people in place (assuming that the individuals are not disqualified for non-political reasons) for administrative positions to carry out the political philosophy that voters supported in the presidential election. But the voters have also supported the political philosophies of the 100 members of the U.S. Senate and the 435 members of the House of Representatives.  It should be noted that in 2016 almost three million more voters supported Clinton than Trump.

The U.S. Supreme Court is one of three, independent branches of the U.S. government as set out in the U.S. Constitution.  Although holding personal political views, the justices must decide cases, taking into account established law, based on whether legislation or executive action is consistent with the Constitution and must protect the rights of individuals.  Kavanaugh's record suggests that he will depart from important precedents and that he will not provide the appropriate check to the executive branch of government.

1. Kavanaugh supports an unchecked presidency. 

(a) Review his obsequious statement (also known as an unnecessary lie) at the press conference announcing his appointment where he said of President Trump: “No president has ever consulted more widely or talked with more people from more backgrounds to seek input about a supreme court nomination.” https://www.vox.com/2018/7/9/17550910/brett-kavanaugh-nomination-transcript-supreme-court

(b) “He believes the president is above the law. In his personal writing, Judge Kavanaugh has repeatedly demonstrated that he won’t stand up to President Donald Trump, allowing President Trump’s abuses of power to go unchecked. He has argued that a president should have ‘absolute discretion’ and be able to dismiss any counsel 'out to get him,' that a president need not comply with laws that he personally deems to be unconstitutional, and that a president is protected from ‘criminal prosecution and investigation’ while he or she is in office. [Footnotes omitted.]” http://www.nationalpartnership.org/research-library/general/seven-reasons-confirming-brett-kavanaugh-would-be-terrible-for-women.pdf

 (c) “Judge Kavanaugh openly criticized Chief Justice Roberts for his decision to uphold the health care law and, from the bench, repeatedly voiced his opposition to the ACA, including by suggesting that a president could ‘decline to enforce’ this lifesaving legislation if he [the president] personally deems it unconstitutional. [Footnotes omitted.]” http://www.nationalpartnership.org/research-library/general/seven-reasons-confirming-brett-kavanaugh-would-be-terrible-for-women.pdf

2. Kavanaugh will likely vote to weaken or overturn Roe v. Wade, family planning laws, LGBT rights, and privacy laws.

U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan has written:  “Judge Kavanaugh challenged whether it was accurate to say that Roe v. Wade is the 'settled law of the land.'  Writing in an email, 'I am not sure that all legal scholars refer to Roe as the settled law of the land at the Supreme Court level since Court can always overrule precedent, and three current Justices on the Court would do so.'  As recently as last year, Judge Kavanaugh praised the dissent from Justice Rehnquist in Roe v. Wade . . . .” https://www.hassan.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senator-hassan-announces-opposition-to-judge-kavanaugh-for-the-supreme-court

3.  A candidate who is found to have lied should be denied an appointment.   

Kavanaugh was evasive and may have lied to the U.S. Senate in his confirmation hearing to be a U.S. Circuit Court Judge.  https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/09/five-times-brett-kavanaugh-appears-to-have-lied-to-congress-while-under-oath/

After hearing(s) and/or further investigation, Senators may conclude that Kavanaugh was evasive and may have lied regarding sexual assault charges.

John McCain

Remember what he did and what he said.

McCain Statement re Trump Helsinki Press Conference

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ), Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, released the following statement [July 16, 2018] on President Trump’s meeting and press conference with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki: 

 

“Today’s press conference in Helsinki was one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory. The damage inflicted by President Trump’s naiveté, egotism, false equivalence, and sympathy for autocrats is difficult to calculate. But it is clear that the summit in Helsinki was a tragic mistake.

“President Trump proved not only unable, but unwilling to stand up to Putin. He and Putin seemed to be speaking from the same script as the president made a conscious choice to defend a tyrant against the fair questions of a free press, and to grant Putin an uncontested platform to spew propaganda and lies to the world.

“It is tempting to describe the press conference as a pathetic rout – as an illustration of the perils of under-preparation and inexperience. But these were not the errant tweets of a novice politician. These were the deliberate choices of a president who seems determined to realize his delusions of a warm relationship with Putin’s regime without any regard for the true nature of his rule, his violent disregard for the sovereignty of his neighbors, his complicity in the slaughter of the Syrian people, his violation of international treaties, and his assault on democratic institutions throughout the world.

“Coming close on the heels of President Trump’s bombastic and erratic conduct towards our closest friends and allies in Brussels and Britain, today’s press conference marks a recent low point in the history of the American Presidency. That the president was attended in Helsinki by a team of competent and patriotic advisors makes his blunders and capitulations all the more painful and inexplicable.

“No prior president has ever abased himself more abjectly before a tyrant. Not only did President Trump fail to speak the truth about an adversary; but speaking for America to the world, our president failed to defend all that makes us who we are—a republic of free people dedicated to the cause of liberty at home and abroad. American presidents must be the champions of that cause if it is to succeed. Americans are waiting and hoping for President Trump to embrace that sacred responsibility. One can only hope they are not waiting totally in vain.”

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