Heller: No reservations on Kavanaugh
Yucca Mountain ruling key topic as pair meet
WASHINGTON — Republican Sen. Dean Heller of Nevada said Thursday he had no reservations and would likely vote to confirm Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Heller met with Kavanaugh, 53, in his Capitol Hill office and talked with him about judicial temperament, precedent and a previous appellate court ruling involving a Department of Energy application for a construction license to build a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain.
“I have no reservations,” Heller told the Review-journal after the meeting. “I’m very confident.”
Heller said Kavanaugh “strongly defends the Constitution. He respects precedent. He’s not an activist judge.”
Kavanaugh was nominated by President Donald Trump this month to fill a vacancy on the high court following the announced retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy, who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan.
Support by Heller of Kavanaugh was not unexpected. During the 30-minute meeting, Heller said, they spoke about personal interests, like sports and education.
“We had a great conversation,” Heller said. “I think he is a solid jurist.”
The two also spoke about judicial matters, and particularly a ruling on a case involving Yucca Mountain.
Kavanaugh wrote a 2013 majority ruling by a three-judge panel on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia that instructed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to continue spending $11 million appropriated by Congress to hear the DOE’S license application to construct a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain.
The ruling was made in a case brought by Aiken, South Carolina, after the Obama administration cut funding for the licensing process due to public and political opposition to Yucca Mountain in Nevada.
Kavanaugh wrote that the ruling does not prejudge the NRC’S consideration or decision, or affect “any Department of Energy attempt to withdraw the license application.”
Heller queried Kavanaugh about the ruling.
“I asked him specifically if he had a position on Yucca Mountain and he said, ‘Read the ruling,’” Heller said. “He said he does not and (the ruling) states that.”
Licensing hearings eventually were halted. Trump has proposed funding to kickstart those hearings, although differences between the House and Senate have blocked funding to resume them.
Contact Gary Martin at gmartin@reviewjournal.com or at 202-662-7390. Follow @garymartindc on Twitter.