Kavanaugh on track for U.S. top court
Pressed on Roe v. Wade comments
• Democrats hoping to block Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation pivoted Thursday to the deeply contentious issue of abortion after disclosure of an email he once wrote suggesting the high court’s landmark Roe v. Wade ruling wasn’t universally considered settled law. But their long-shot chances of defeating him appeared to be fading.
In the email, Kavanaugh was reviewing and commenting on a potential oped article in support of two judicial nominees while he was working at the George W. Bush White House in 2003. The document had been among many held by the Senate Judiciary Committee as confidential, over the objections of Democrats, who have argued throughout this week’s hearing that Republicans have shielded important papers about Presidential Donald Trump’s nominee.
“I am not sure that all legal scholars refer to Roe as the settled law of the land at the Supreme Court level since court can always overrule its precedent, and three current Justices on the Court would do so,” Kavanaugh wrote, referring to justices at the time, in an email to a Republican Senate aide. The document was partially redacted.
The Trump White House quickly dashed off a memo saying Kavanaugh was merely discussing what “legal scholars” thought, not himself.
Asked about it by Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch, Kavanaugh said the same, that he was noting “what legal scholars might say” and offered his comment on the proposed article because he’s “always concerned with accuracy.”
The committee’s top Democrat, Dianne Feinstein of California pressed Kavanaugh to explain himself. Kavanaugh reiterated his previous testimony that “Roe v. Wade is an important precedent of the Supreme Court.”
So far, the 53-year-old judge has been able to stay on track toward confirmation in the Republican-held Senate, avoiding major pitfalls in hours of questioning before the Judiciary Committee. After a 12-hour session Wednesday and more questioning Thursday, he did not seem to have changed minds on the committee, which is basically split along partisan lines. But Republicans hold a slight majority.