Brett Kavanaugh is Confirmed to the Supreme Court; Process was a Farce; America Suffers
On This Day In 2018
First, the accusation: When Trump named Brett Kavanaugh to replace Anthony Kennedy on SCOTUS, he was seen a shoo-in to be approved by the GOP-controlled Senate. But his confirmation process grew complicated when professor Christine Blasey Ford accused Kavanaugh of having sexually assaulted her when they were teenagers.
After Blasey Ford’s accusation, other women stepped forward with similar stories of Kavanaugh’s behavior. So the GOP came under intense pressure from those who thought maybe the vetting process should actually, you know, vet the candidate.
Also problematically, the Trump Administration seemed to be hiding information about Kavanaugh’s role in certain events during his time working in the first Bush administration. Kavanaugh also seemed to hold extreme positions on abortion rights and gun rights, among other deeply conservative beliefs, although he tried to moderate them during his confirmation hearings. And perhaps most personally relevant to Donald Trump, who was already under criminal investigation by the time he picked him, Kavanaugh gave evasive answers – or non-answers – as to how much immunity presidents should have from prosecution.
Eventually, a sham investigation: The GOP senators who shaped the confirmation hearings weren’t worried about Kavanaugh’s far-from-mainstream political views, as they were going to be helpful to the GOP's radical agenda. But they did agree at last, reluctantly, to pause the confirmation process so the FBI could investigate the growing tidal wave of sexual misconduct allegations. (This came after Kavanaugh’s infamous “Sometimes I had too many beers” speech.)
However, the resulting "investigation" was a sham. Under direction from the Trump White House, the GOP senators permitted it to last less than ten days, which was obviously inadequate. During that time, the FBI referred ~ 4,500 tips about Kavanaugh to the White House…which promptly ignored them.
The Donald J. Trump Administration does not provide a welcoming home to those voicing concerns about sexual harassment.
After that brief pause, OTDI 2018 the Senate confirmed him. The vote, 50-48, was the closest confirmation tally since the 19th century; and, indeed, that wouldn’t have been a sufficient margin to elevate him to the Court in previous decades. The law used to require 60 votes to confirm a justice; that hurdle helped ensure that presidents picked candidates who were broadly acceptable to both parties. That comity went out the window when the GOP not only refused to let Obama appoint a justice, but changed the rules so that Trump’s deeply conservative picks could be approved with only 50 GOP senators voting yes.
All of this, especially coming off of the unresolved sexual assault accusations, was particularly painful for many.
“Having Brett Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court, with allegations of sexual misconduct still very fresh in the public’s mind, strikes millions of Americans as a dagger through the heart,” said Nan Aron, founder of Alliance for Justice.
But then came the real problems for America: Not surprisingly, Kavanaugh and his fellow Trumpian picks quickly moved to strike down rules which had governed this country for generations. He voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, cancel gun safety laws, weaken LGBTQIA+ protections, make it easier for judges to sentence minors to life in prison, and help push the court further to the extreme right.
Then, of course, another dagger: Kavanaugh joined his fellow Trump appointees to essentially give Trump a "get out of jail free" card from his many felony indictments, writing that much of a president's actions are immune from prosecution if he can argue that they're a part of his job requirements.
And let's not forget: He's young enough that he could continue to wreak havoc on America's way of life for the next 30 years.
One more question about Trump’s judgment. Do we think Brett Kavanaugh is really the BEST America had to offer as a Supreme Court Justice? Wasn’t there ANYBODY else he could have picked who wasn’t such a flawed human? Is Brett Kavanaugh the man you want your kids picturing when they contemplate what they want to be when they grow up?
Dive Deeper
SCOTUSblog gives an overview of Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing
Vanity Fair covers the revelation that the FBI investigation was a sham all along
CNN writes about presidential immunity
Time reviews Kavanaugh’s first term on the court and his rightward push
Sign pic: Hillel Steinberg