Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., announced Monday that he will support Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court despite concerns about his views on the Fourth Amendment.
“After meeting Judge Kavanaugh and reviewing his record, I have decided to support his nomination,” Paul said in a statement.
“Each nominee … must be judged on the totality of their views, character, and opinions,” Paul said. “I have expressed my concern over Judge Kavanaugh’s record on warrantless bulk collection of data and how that might apply to very important privacy cases before the Supreme Court.”
“Judge Kavanaugh will be more open to a Fourth Amendment that protects digital records and property,” Paul said.
Paul had been mentioned among a handful of Republicans that could potentially vote against his nomination, as he said he was “very concerned” about where the judge stands on privacy. This largely stemmed from Kavanaugh having argued in 2015 that the federal government’s collection of metadata did not violate the constitution.
“In my view,” Kavanaugh wrote, “the government’s metadata collection program is entirely consistent with the Fourth Amendment.”
Among others considered to be up for grabs for Democrats to possibly pick off to kill the nomination are Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, due to their support for abortion rights.
