Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, announced Tuesday he will vote against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh because of his views on the president’s power to avoid criminal prosecution.
Warner, of Virginia, joins a growing list of Democrats who will not vote for Kavanaugh. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island said Monday they would not support President Trump’s nominee.
Warner, alongside Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C., is leading a Senate investigation into Russian meddling into the 2016 election and whether Trump’s campaign was involved. He said Kavanaugh’s failure to clarify his position on whether presidents can be investigated is a major reason for his plan to vote no.
“We currently have a president whose conduct is at the center of a federal criminal investigation, but in his testimony before the Judiciary Committee, Judge Kavanaugh refused to say whether he thinks it is constitutional for presidents to be investigated, and whether he continues to believe that the president has the power to fire a prosecutor criminally investigating him,” Warner said in a statement.
“In this country, no one, not even the president, is above the law,” Warner said. “Should the president’s legal team decide, as they have threatened, to contest that principle in court, it is imperative that the Supreme Court ensure that the president is held accountable.”
President Trump has labeled the investigation a “witch hunt” and has pointed out it has not revealed any evidence of Trump colluding with Russians.
Warner said he’s also opposed to Kavanaugh because he believes he could vote to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that legalized abortion, or to end a health insurance requirement to cover pre-existing conditions.
Also Tuesday, Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., cited a similar reason for opposing Kavanaugh, in addition to his policy views.
“I have concluded that Judge Kavanaugh will create a new Supreme Court majority that will threaten women’s reproductive rights, roll back essential environmental regulations, and favor large corporations over workers,” he said. “In addition, his view that sitting presidents may be immune from criminal investigations and subpoenas is particularly troublesome at this moment.”
The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to advance the Kavanaugh nomination in the coming days. A final Senate floor vote will take place by the end of September, said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
