President Donald Trump this week announced his pick to replace retiring United States Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy.
The president tabbed Justice Kennedy’s former law clerk Brett M. Kavanaugh for the position that needs approval from the United States Senate.
“Throughout legal circles he’s considered a judge’s judge,” President Trump said in the announcement, labeling Kavanaugh “one of the sharpest legal minds of our time.”
“Judge Kavanaugh has devoted his life to public service,” President Trump continued. “There is no one in America more qualified for this position and no one more deserving.”
Kavanaugh is a Yale graduate and is currently on the federal appellate court for the District of Columbia. Before ascending to the bench during the administration of former President George W. Bush, Kavanaugh was part of Kenneth Starr’s investigation of President Bill Clinton. Fox News reported, “He laid out the legal framework supporting Clinton’s impeachment for his affair with then-White House intern Monica Lewinsky.”
One senator from Louisiana voiced his support for the nomination. In a release Senator John Kennedy stated, “Judge Kavanaugh is obviously well-educated and has an impressive resume, but I look forward to getting to know him better throughout the confirmation process. I want someone who’s smart, intellectually curious and willing to test their assumptions against the arguments of those who disagree with them.”
He continued, “During the Senate Judiciary hearings, I plan to delve into how he interprets a statute and how he would interpret the Constitution when it’s not clear. I want to understand how he thinks the judiciary fits in the Madisonian balance of separation of powers. I want to know if he respects the Bill of Rights and understands why we have a Bill of Rights. You really can’t tell whether that standard can be reached until you have a confirmation hearing. That’s why I look forward to a full and fair vetting process.”
Also expressing his support for Kavanaugh was Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry. In a statement, he stated, “I applaud President Trump’s nomination of Judge Kavanaugh to the United States Supreme Court. Judge Kavanaugh has a proven record of upholding the Constitution and laws as written. Judge Kavanaugh has authored hundreds of decisions based on the law, not on emotions; and his opinions have been adopted many times by the Supreme Court. Judge Kavanaugh has been a champion for the separation of powers and for the limited government that our Founding Fathers envisioned. A former clerk to Justice Kennedy, Judge Kavanaugh will do honor to his former boss by serving with principle and integrity. I hope the United States Senate will swiftly confirm Judge Kavanaugh in a bipartisan manner as they did to put him on the DC Circuit Court.”
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TONY MARKS Associate Editor