Hirono to Oppose Kavanaugh Nomination

WASHINGTON, D.C.-  Senator Mazie K. Hirono today announced that she will oppose the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to serve on the Supreme Court:

“I will be voting no on Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court of the United States.

“Donald Trump long ago announced his intention to nominate a judge off of a list prepared by the Federalist Society and the Heritage Foundation. When it became clear he chose the one person from that list who believes Presidents should not be subject to criminal investigations or civil suits, I knew that nominee would have a very heavy burden of proof. Given his lengthy record of partisan political activity, I could not give him the benefit of the doubt.

“I have spent the last six weeks reading Judge Kavanaugh’s opinions and dissents from his time on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, law review articles he has written, and speeches he has made. I have also reviewed the relatively few documents from his federal service that Judiciary Committee Senators have been allowed to see. It is clear to me that he is not a fair-minded judge and would not be a fair-minded justice. 

“He is primed to overturn or narrow Roe v. Wade and the Affordable Care Act. He favors big business and polluters nearly every chance he gets, deciding against protections for the environment, workers, and women. He reveres executive power, thinks the judiciary is all-knowing, and has contempt for the people’s representatives in Congress. 

“These are not normal times. A President who has been named as an unindicted co-conspirator in a crime intended to influence the 2016 election has chosen a nominee deliberately to protect him from the consequences of his actions.

“At this moment of danger for our democracy, the American people do not need a rubber stamp for Donald Trump on the Supreme Court.”

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