Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh fielded questions for roughly 13 hours Thursday, his second day facing questions from the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The White House praised his performance following the conclusion of questioning during the third day of confirmation hearings for President Trump’s nominee.
“Over the past three days, Judge Kavanaugh demonstrated exactly why President Trump nominated him to the Supreme Court. His fidelity to the Constitution, impeccable qualifications, and extraordinary temperament were on full display for the American people to see,” said White House spokesman Raj Shah in a statement.
Kavanaugh, who is currently a circuit judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, was nominated by Trump on July 9 to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy.
Shah said that through the “long hours and days of questioning,” Kavanaugh “consistently reinforced his firm belief in the bedrock principles of judicial independence and the rule of law.”
“We look forward to the Judiciary Committee completing its review and advancing his nomination,” the spokesman added.
Kavanaugh fielded his hardest questions from Democrats Thursday, who despite their best efforts will be unable to block his confirmation.
Abortion took center stage Thursday after confidential documents were leaked by the New York Times.
In those documents, which date back to his time in President George W. Bush’s administration, Kavanaugh seems to question whether Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court case that said abortion was a constitutional right, was “settled law.”
In response to an email regarding an opinion piece that would have run under the names of women who opposed abortion, Kavanaugh suggested writing: “I am not sure that all legal scholars refer to Roe as the settled law of the land at the Supreme Court level since Court can always overrule its precedent, and three current Justices on the Court would do so.”
Kavanaugh told Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., on Thursday that in the email, he meant “the broader point was simply that it was overstating something about legal scholars.”
“I’m always concerned about accuracy, and I thought it was not an accurate description of all legal scholars,” he said, adding later that Roe v. Wade is “an important precedent.”
However, he declined to say if he thought Roe v. Wade is “correct law.”
Kavanaugh’s views of protecting the president and special counsel Robert Mueller also were a focus of Democrats.
Democrats worry that as a Supreme Court justice, Kavanaugh would provide the swing vote should a case regarding Trump stemming from Mueller’s broad Russia investigation reach the high court.
[Related: Kavanaugh repeatedly refuses to say if he’d recuse himself from Trump cases]
Though Kavanaugh steered clear of criticizing Trump directly, he stressed the importance of the separation of powers.
“I’ve made clear in my writings that a court order that requires a president to do something or prohibits a president from doing something is the final word in our system,” Kavanaugh said, later adding, “The principle I emphasized there was no one is above the law. The president is subject to many legal constraints.”
Wednesday’s hearing was similarly long. Tuesday was for introductions, and Friday will involve panels of witnesses speaking for or against Kavanaugh.
