Tag: SCOTUS

Want to Know More About: The Kavanaugh Hearing

Jeffery Toobin: “You Know What, Donald Trump Was Right, Roe V. Wade Is Going To Be Overturned If Brett Kavanaugh Is Appointed.” JEFFERY TOOBIN: “But let’s remember how Brett Kavanaugh was picked and by whom. You know, Donald Trump said if I have two appointments to the supreme court, Roe V. Wade is going to be overturned. And You know what, Donald Trump was right, Roe V. Wade is going to be overturned if Brett Kavanaugh is appointed.” [New Day, CNN, 9/4/18; Video]

Jan Crawford: “Democrats Who Are Arguing, Among Other Things, That Kavanaugh On The Bench Means The Future Of Abortion Rights Is At Stake.” JAN CRAWFORD: “So, today you’re going it see lawmakers on both sides of the aisle try to frame the debate over Kavanaugh. Republicans say they want to have him confirmed to the bench by the time the supreme court returns that first Monday in October, so they’re going to have to kind of maintain a united front to fend off Democrats who are arguing, among other things, that Kavanaugh on the bench means the future of abortion rights is at stake.” [CBS This Morning, CBS, 9/4/18; Video] Continue reading “Want to Know More About: The Kavanaugh Hearing”

What’s at Stake with the Kavanaugh Hearing

There’s too much at stake to allow Brett Kavanaugh to be confirmed to the highest court in the land.

Thankfully, Senate Democrats are fighting for Americans by challenging Republicans’ historically-secretive hearing to confirm Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.

Senate Democrats are proud to have interrupted Sen. Grassley’s charade of a confirmation process this morning.  Kavanaugh is being considered for a lifetime appointment to the highest court in the land, and the American people deserve access to all his records.

What are Senate Republicans hiding about Brett Kavanaugh? Continue reading “What’s at Stake with the Kavanaugh Hearing”

New Poll: Kavanaugh Among Least Popular Nominees In Decades

Ahead of Kavanaugh’s hearing today, a new poll shows that the American people oppose his nomination.

  • Kavanaugh’s approval remains underwater and “among the lowest support levels for a high court nominee in polling back to 1987.”

 

  • Only 38% of Americans say Kavanaugh should be confirmed.

 

WATCH SENATE DEMOCRATS POUNCE: ‘We Cannot Possibly Move Forward’

Senate Democrats are fired up and fighting for Americans in Republicans’ historically secretive hearing to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. Senate Republicans are holding his confirmation hearing today…

  1. In spite of Republicans releasing 42,000 records last night that could not possibly be reviewed before this morning’s hearing;
  2. Despite Republicans refusing to release 93% of Kavanaugh’s White House records;
  3. And in the face of the Trump administration’s unprecedented decision to withhold 100,000 pages of documents under the guise of executive privilege.

Senate Democrats have had enough. Take a look: Continue reading “WATCH SENATE DEMOCRATS POUNCE: ‘We Cannot Possibly Move Forward’”

More Information About: Washington Policy This Week

Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings are already underway, kicking off a busy week and month on the Hill. Both the House and Senate are back in session today.

Appropriations — Congress has 11 legislative days to agree on how to fund the government in FY 2019. They’ve made progress, passing individual spending bills through the House and Senate, though they still need to agree on final language that can pass both chambers. Much of the government will probably be funded by September 30th via this process, thus averting a complete government shutdown. (The first “minibus” package of Energy-Water, Legislative Branch, and Military Construction-VA funding will make it to the president’s desk as soon as this week.) But significant sticking points remain, particularly on health care and on the DHS bill, which Trump has threatened to use to force a shutdown over wall funding. Reportedly, some immigration hardliners are encouraging Trump to do so.

Supreme Court — Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing started today in the Senate Judiciary Committee, and it could continue all week. The committee is on track to approve his nomination on a party-line vote, even though Republicans are hiding millions of pages of Kavanaugh’s records from the American people. The Trump administration itself is withholding 100,000 pages, a Republican lawyer who used to work for Kavanaugh pre-screened and dumped 42,000 pages of records last night, and Republican Senators are refusing to allow Democratic Senators to use many of Kavanaugh’s records at his hearing.

Health Care — Hearings begin on Wednesday in Texas v. United States, a case Republican Attorneys General are using to try, once again, to gut the Affordable Care Act. Republicans’ argument is legally dubious at best, but if the case makes its way up to the Supreme Court, ACA-skeptic Brett Kavanaugh could be the deciding vote in eliminating protections for people with pre-existing conditions. Meanwhile, some Republican Senators have put up a bill they claim would proactively protect people with pre-existing conditions if the ACA is struck down. But the bill actually allows insurance companies to sell junk plans to people with pre-existing conditions instead, offering no real protections at all. And the Trump Administration is backing the Republican AGs in their efforts to attack the ACA.

Other Floor Activity — Congress is also going to conference on the Farm Bill this week, with members of the House and Senate meeting for the first time on Wednesday to try hash out the significant differences between their two versions of the bills. Republicans say they want a final bill finished by the end of the month; if they do not meet that ambitious target, Congress will need to extend the current farm bill by Oct. 1st. Continue reading “More Information About: Washington Policy This Week”

Republicans Have Reviewed Very Little Of Kavanaugh’s Records

They Haven’t Seen Any Of His Staff Secretary Records

Senate Republicans are trying to rush through the confirmation of Judge Kavanaugh by holding his hearing before the Senate is able to review the full subset of records that Senator Grassley has requested.

In fact, the Senate has reviewed less than half of the subset of records that Grassley requested, and Republicans still refuse to release any of the records from Kavanaugh’s time as White House staff secretary. What are Republicans trying to hide?

  • Senator Grassley said his staff has reviewed 430,000 pages of Kavanaugh’s records ahead of his hearing next week.
  • That is less than half of the more than 900,000 pages Senator Grassley requested. The rest won’t be made available before Kavanaugh’s hearing.
  • The few records that have been turned over were pre-screened by a Republican lawyer who used to work for Kavanaugh. The Senate will likely see zero records from the National Archives before Kavanaugh’s hearing.
  • Senate Republicans still refuse to release 560,000 documents from Kavanaugh’s time as White House staff secretary.

Raising The Stakes: Kavanaugh Believes Trump Is Above The Law. He Should Not Be Confirmed.

Yesterday, the stakes of Kavanaugh’s nomination were raised even higher after Michael Cohen alleged under oath Donald Trump was a co-conspirator in a crime meant to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. The Senate should not confirm a nominee that believes the president is above the law, and Senate Republicans should delay his confirmation hearing.

Kavanaugh refused to say that the president must comply with a subpoena or provide records in an investigation.

Senator Schumer: “And on the issue of executive power, Judge Kavanaugh would not say that the President must comply with a subpoena or provide records.” Continue reading “Raising The Stakes: Kavanaugh Believes Trump Is Above The Law. He Should Not Be Confirmed.”

Brett Kavanaugh memo proposed explicit questions for President Bill Clinton

The following article by Michael Kranish was posted on the Washington Post website August 20, 2018:

Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh listens during a meeting with Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) on Capitol Hill on July 11. Credit: Manuel Balce Ceneta, AP

A 1998 memo written by Brett Kavanaugh proposed a series of tough, sexually explicit questions for President Bill Clinton to answer about his affair with Monica Lewinsky, shedding new light on the Supreme Court nominee’s moralistic outlook and his view of presidential power.

Kavanaugh, as associate counsel in the office of independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr, wrote in the memo that he was “strongly opposed” to giving Clinton any “break” and suggested 10 questions, including: “If Monica Lewinsky says that you inserted a cigar into her vagina while you were in the Oval Office area, would she be lying?”

The memo provides a contrast to the genial, soft-spoken nominee who chooses every word carefully as he makes the rounds of the Senate before his Sept. 4 hearing before the Judiciary Committee. It reveals a hardball tactician who argued forcefully that Starr had the right to press the president for answers, a view he later shifted, saying presidents are too busy to be subject to such investigations while in office.

View the complete article here.

Kavanaugh Could Unlock Funding for Religious Education, School Voucher Advocates Say

The following article by Erica L. Green was posted on the New York Times website August 14, 2018:

Judge Brett Kavanaugh, President Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court, in Washington in July. Over his decades-long legal career, Judge Kavanaugh has argued in favor of religious freedom in education. Credit: Erin Schaff for The New York Times

WASHINGTON — Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, in a speech last year, gave a strong hint at his views on taxpayer support for religious schools when he praised his “first judicial hero,” Justice William Rehnquist, for determining that the strict wall between church and state “was wrong as a matter of law and history.”

Mr. Rehnquist’s legacy on religious issues was most profound in “ensuring that religious schools and religious institutions could participate as equals in society and in state benefits programs,” Judge Kavanaugh, President Trump’s nominee to succeed Justice Anthony M. Kennedy on the Supreme Court, declared at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative research organization.

Words like that from a Supreme Court nominee are breathing new life into the debate over public funding for sectarian education. Educators see him as crucial to answering a question left by Justice Kennedy after the Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional for the state of Missouri to exclude a church-based preschool from competing for public funding to upgrade its playground: Can a church-school playground pave the way for taxpayer funding to flow to private and parochial schools for almost any purpose?

View the complete article here.

Kavanaugh Feared Looking ‘Silly’ on Flip-Flop on Presidential Records

The following article by Todd Ruger was posted on the Roll Call website August 13, 2018:

Boxes representing roughly 1 million pages of documents to be submitted to the committee on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Credit: Tom Williams, CQ Roll Call file photo

Long before the current Senate fight over access to presidential records as part of his Supreme Court nomination, Brett Kavanaugh sent an email to his co-workers in the White House counsel’s office about a soon-to-be-published article on access to presidential records that “makes me look very silly.”

Kavanaugh let the office know that Washington Post columnist Al Kamen planned to write a blurb to highlight how he had switched legal positions — now that he was a lawyer in the George W. Bush administration — when it comes to how much power former presidents and their families had to block the release of presidential records.

“I apologize in advance,” Kavanaugh wrote in the email, one of about 88,000 pages of documents about his work in the White House released Sunday as part of the confirmation process. “I will be screaming into a pillow at staff meeting in the morning. Uggghhhhh.”

View the complete article here.