Senator Rand Paul announced today that he will vote to confirm Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the US Supreme Court. There was some worry about whether or not Paul would support Kavanaugh over concerns regarding the 4th Amendment. Paul said in a press release that he has reviewed Kavanaugh’s record and has talked with him about this issue and has decided that Kavanaugh “will carefully adhere to the Constitution and will take his job to protect individual liberty seriously.” Paul believes Kavanaugh “will evaluate cases before the Supreme Court from a textual and originalist point of view.”
This is a huge piece of the confirmation puzzle. Democrats like Sen. Bob Casey vowed, before the nomination was known, to oppose whoever was nominated, Sen. Cory Booker has called Kavanaugh supporters “evil,” and Sen. Schumer promised to oppose Kavanaugh with everything he has. So Republicans may need a united party to have Kavanaugh confirmed. It’s a shame that so many Democrats have bought into the mindless resist anything that moves mentality. Kavanaugh is a well-qualified jurist.
Some Democrats are in a tough position with this confirmation vote. Booker is not up for re-election this year, and with his obvious plans to run for president, he must feel the need to politicize this confirmation process to galvanize his radical leftwing base. That’s a terrible way to treat the Supreme Court. Senators Joe Manchin of West of Virginia, Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, and Jon Tester of Montana are all in tough re-election campaigns. It will be difficult to explain to their voters why they may decide to oppose such a highly qualified nominee for the High Court. Paul’s statement could give a lot of sway to independent leaning voters who understand that Supreme Court nominees need to be vetted on considerations other than deep blue state talking points.
Here is the statement from Senator Rand Paul-
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), who last week met with U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh, released the following statement concerning Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination:
“After meeting Judge Kavanaugh and reviewing his record, I have decided to support his nomination.
“No one will ever completely agree with a nominee (unless, of course, you are the nominee). Each nominee, however, must be judged on the totality of their views, character, and opinions.
“I have expressed my concern over Judge Kavanaugh’s record on warrantless bulk collection of data and how that might apply to very important privacy cases before the Supreme Court.
“In reviewing his record on other privacy cases like Jones, and through my conversation with him, I have hope that in light of the new precedent in Carpenter v. United States, Judge Kavanaugh will be more open to a Fourth Amendment that protects digital records and property.
“Of course, my vote is not a single-issue vote, and much of my reading and conversation has been in trying to figure out exactly how good Judge Kavanaugh will be on other issues before the Court.
“My conversation with Judge Kavanaugh reinforces my belief that he will evaluate cases before the Supreme Court from a textual and originalist point of view.
“I believe he will carefully adhere to the Constitution and will take his job to protect individual liberty seriously.
“On issues such as property rights and reining in the administrative state, Judge Kavanaugh has a strong record and showed a deep commitment during our meeting. His views on due process and mens rea show a thoughtful approach to the law and its applications. His views on war powers and separation of powers are encouraging.
“Finally, his strong defenses of the First and Second Amendments in landmark cases show someone who isn’t afraid to challenge the status quo and will fight with backbone. Judge Kavanaugh will have my support and my vote to confirm him to the Supreme Court.”
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