As governor of a state which sent six electoral votes to President Trump, I am excited that he continues to deliver on his promise to nominate jurists of impeccable quality to the Supreme Court. Because he has kept that promise to Kansas and the rest of the country, I was proud to join with 31 other governors to pen a letter encouraging the Senate to confirm Judge Brett Kavanaugh as associate justice of the Supreme Court.
As someone who, like most Americans, has grown tired of activist judges writing the law rather than interpreting it, I could not be more thrilled that Trump selected Kavanaugh for this important position. Throughout his judicial career, Kavanaugh has shown a commitment to interpret the Constitution as written. He knows that the role of the court is to interpret the law, not to create it. These are vital qualities in a Supreme Court justice.
It’s not only his judicial philosophy which qualifies Kavanaugh to serve on our nation’s highest court. His distinguished judicial record and impeccable credentials have enshrined him as one of the brightest legal minds of our time. After receiving his undergraduate and law degrees from Yale, he clerked for Justice Anthony Kennedy of the Supreme Court, Judge Walter Stapleton of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit, and Judge Alex Kozinski of the U. S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. He went on to become a Bristow Fellow in the Office of the Solicitor General of the United States, an associate in the Office of Independent Counsel Ken Starr, and a partner at Kirkland & Ellis.
He later served President George W. Bush as associate counsel, senior associate counsel, and assistant to the president and staff secretary. This all came before he was nominated to the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit by Bush and confirmed by the Senate in 2006. His qualifications cannot be questioned.
If confirmed, Kavanaugh will follow and uphold the law, interpreting the Constitution as the Founding Father’s intended. The Supreme Court has adopted Kavanaugh’s opinions an impressive thirteen times, and reversed his position only once. His roughly 300 written opinions continue to be cited by judges across the country. He has proven time and again that he is a fair jurist and an unbiased interpreter of the law. Kavanaugh’s respect for people threatened by government overreach has demonstrated itself on numerous occasions, and he has often rejected attempts by the federal government to impose onerous regulations on private citizens. He is the judge the public wants and needs.
Kavanaugh is the best of the best, someone who builds consensus and decides cases based on the law, not personal policy preferences. Like his fellow classmate and clerk for Kennedy, Justice Neil Gorsuch, Kavanaugh will validate our faith in him to carry out the duties of associate Supreme Court justice. Trump could not have made a better choice to succeed Kennedy.
I urge the Senate to confirm Kavanaugh without delay. I know he will be a fair and honest justice worthy of the honor bestowed upon him.
Gov. Jeff Colyer, a Republican, is governor of Kansas.
