If he’s confirmed to the Supreme Court, at least one aspect of Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s life would set him apart from the other eight sitting justices — his wallet.
An analysis of Kavanaugh’s most recent personal financial disclosure, obtained last Friday by the Center for Responsive Politics, “shows him reporting between $15,000 and $65,000 in his bank and retirement accounts.” According to the center, “That would make him one of the Supreme Court’s least wealthy justices if he’s picked by Trump and confirmed by the Senate.” Though he earned at least in the ballpark of $250,000 last year, Kavanaugh is not required as a judge to “disclose mortgages, equity loans, or lines of credit on personal residences, vehicles, boats or motor homes,” said the center, meaning the “exact value of [his] total assets is unknown.” Other than his $1 million dollar home in Maryland, Kavanaugh appears to own no additional property.
At $890,000, Anthony Kennedy was the only justice with an average net worth below $1 million, per the center’s review of recent financial disclosures. North of $11.5 million, Justice Stephen Breyer’s was the highest, followed by John Roberts and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The median was $4.6 million in 2017.
Kavanaugh’s comparatively low net worth is an interesting wrinkle in the emerging image of a lifelong Washingtonian who attended Georgetown Prep, boasts an “Ivy League pedigree,” and has spent his career in the halls of power. The figure is only an estimate, of course, and personal wealth has little to do with his qualifications for the bench. But as every detail of Kavanaugh’s career is pored over from now until votes are cast, it’s another dimension of his life worth noting. And though Kavanaugh isn’t a woman or a minority, perhaps he’s still poised to add some small measure of diversity to the Supreme Court anyway.
[Also read: Twitter erupts after Trump nominates Brett Kavanaugh to Supreme Court]
