Praise for Judge Kavanaugh from Across the Political Spectrum
‘This week, Judge Brett Kavanaugh has continued meeting with members of this body… I suspect that, with Judge Kavanaugh, you have to go in with a closed mind in order to come away unimpressed. This man has served with distinction for more than a decade on what many scholars consider the second-highest court in our nation -- the D.C. Circuit. His legal brilliance and his fair, open-minded approach have won him vocal praise from those in the know across the political spectrum.’
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding the president’s nominee for the Supreme Court, Judge Brett Kavanaugh:
‘This week, Judge Brett Kavanaugh has continued meeting with members of this body. So far, I believe the only Senators who’ve met with this nominee and then had negative things to say about him were Democrats who’d already announced beforehand they would oppose him. I suspect that, with Judge Kavanaugh, you have to go in with a closed mind in order to come away unimpressed. This man has served with distinction for more than a decade on what many scholars consider the second-highest court in our nation -- the D.C. Circuit. His legal brilliance and his fair, open-minded approach have won him vocal praise from those in the know across the political spectrum.
“Quote: ‘I think it’s very hard for anyone who’s worked with him, appeared before him to, frankly, say a bad word about him. I mean, this is an incredibly brilliant, careful person… legendary for his preparation.’ That is Neal Katyal, who served as Solicitor General to President Barack Obama, describing Judge Kavanaugh. Here’s another former Obama Solicitor General, Donald Verrilli. Quote: ‘Judge Kavanaugh is a brilliant jurist… he carries out all phases of his responsibilities as a judge in a way you’d want, in an exemplary way.’ He is, Mr. Verrilli explained, ‘a distinguished jurist by any measure.’ This what it sounds like when legal experts who happen to be on the political left make a fair, unbiased assessment of this impressive, mainstream nominee.
“In contrast, about a third of the entire Democratic caucus stood up in the first week after Judge Kavanaugh was announced to declare they had seen enough and were dead-set against confirming him. One Democrat -- a member of the Judiciary Committee, in fact -- announced that she would oppose whomever the president selected before Judge Kavanaugh was even nominated. And the ink was barely dry on Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination when my friend, the Democratic Leader, said that he would oppose it with, quote, ‘everything I’ve got.’ All this reflexive opposition, occurred well before there was any mention of documents or any of the other reasons our colleagues have come up with to delay the hearing.
“Remember, Judge Kavanaugh has written over 300 opinions on the bench. And the Judiciary Committee has already received more than twice as many pages of documents pertaining to this nominee as for any other Supreme Court nominee in American history. More than 400,000 pages and counting. So however you slice it, every Senator will be historically well equipped to provide advice and consent on the president’s nominee. No shifting rationales or partisan complaints can mask this simple fact: Everyone who’s willing to give this nominee a fair hearing will be able to do precisely that.”
Related Issues: Supreme Court, Nominations, Judicial Nominations
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