Brett Kavanaugh, President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, will liken the role of a judge to an umpire when he testifies in the Senate this week, and describes himself as a “pro-law judge” who does not decide cases by his “personal or policy preferences.”
“A good judge must be an umpire — a neutral and impartial arbiter who favors no litigant or policy,” Kavanaugh will say, according to an excerpt of his prepared remarks released by the White House. “I don’t decide cases based on personal or policy preferences. I am not a pro-plaintiff or pro-defendant judge. I am not a pro-prosecution or pro-defense judge. I am a pro-law judge.”
[Related: Lindsey Graham predicts 55 senators will vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh]
Kavanaugh will testify before the panel of 21 senators Tuesday morning on the first day of his four-day confirmation hearing. Kavanaugh will talk about his time serving with 17 other judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, including Merrick Garland, the court’s chief judge who President Barack Obama nominated to the Supreme Court in 2016 following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia.
“If confirmed to the Court, I would be part of a Team of Nine, committed to deciding cases according to the Constitution and laws of the United States,” Kavanaugh will say. “I would always strive to be a team player on the Team of Nine.”
Kavanaugh will also offer words of praise for Justice Anthony Kennedy, who retired from the Supreme Court at the end of July and whose seat Kavanaugh will fill if confirmed by the full Senate. Kavanaugh clerked for Kennedy on the Supreme Court.
“To me, Justice Kennedy is a mentor, a friend, and a hero. As a member of the Court, he was a model of civility and collegiality,” he will say. “He fiercely defended the independence of the Judiciary. And he was a champion of liberty.”
Trump nominated Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court in early July, and the announcement kicked off what has been a bruising confirmation fight.
Kennedy served as the swing vote on the Supreme Court for more than a decade, and if Kavanaugh is confirmed, the court’s bent will shift to the right.
A host of Senate Democrats have already come out in opposition to Kavanaugh’s nomination, while all eyes are on Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Joe Donnelly of Indiana. The three senators voted to confirm Gorsuch and represent states Trump won in 2016.
On Tuesday, he will be introduced by former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Lisa Blatt, a Supreme Court litigator.
The first round of questioning will occur Wednesday and the second round Thursday. On Friday, senators will hear from a panel of witnesses for Republicans and Democrats.
