Prominent conservative groups offered support for President Trump’s nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, throwing cold water on a whisper campaign against the circuit court judge that emerged within some circles on the Right ahead of Monday night’s announcement.
Among the four finalists identified prior to the president’s big reveal, Kavanaugh had drawn the most criticism from social conservatives for his past opinions on Obamacare and a case last year involving abortion. Among his critics was longtime conservative radio host Mark Levin, who suggested last week it was a cause for concern that Democrats had “mostly left Brett Kavanaugh alone” while trashing his fellow front-runners.
“Justice Kavanaugh would be a moderate constitutionalist somewhere between Justice Kennedy and Chief Justice Roberts,” Phillip Jauregi, president of the conservative Judicial Action Group, wrote in a memo to donors following Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement in June.
But on Monday, most conservative groups who had been carefully following the nomination process expressed satisfaction with the president’s choice, including several anti-abortion organizations.
[Related: John McCain praises Brett Kavanaugh as ‘fair, mainstream judge’ with ‘impeccable credentials’]
“Judge Kavanaugh is an experienced, principled jurist with a strong record of protecting life and constitutional rights,” Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the conservative Susan B. Anthony List, said in a statement, adding that her group would be “mobilizing the pro-life grassroots nationwide and in key Senate battleground states to urge the Senate to swiftly confirm” Kavanaugh.
David McIntosh, president of the pro-free-market Club for Growth, described Trump’s pick as “a superbly qualified choice with a proven commitment to conservative constitutional jurisprudence.”
Tim Chapman, executive director of Heritage Action, a group that is expected to put tremendous pressure on Senate Republicans and vulnerable Democrats to support Kavanaugh’s nomination, said the president selected someone “who will impartially uphold the law and the Constitution as written.”
“Brett Kavanaugh is a judge who will, based on his record, not legislate from the bench, but instead faithfully interpret the law, honor the separation of powers, and uphold and protect individual rights spelled out in the Constitution,” Chapman said in a statement.
Some conservatives, however, remained skeptical of whether Kavanaugh would rule against abortion rights if he is confirmed and faces a case involving the hot-button issue at the Supreme Court level.
“I hope I’m wrong, but I fear that the Kavanaugh abortion legacy won’t be reversing Roe but rather watering down Casey’s ‘undue burden’ standard — like feminists feared would happen when Casey was first decided,” National Review columnist David French tweeted Monday night, referring to a landmark 1992 case called Planned Parenthood v. Casey that redefined provisions involving abortion rights that had been granted in Roe v. Wade.
Kavanaugh told the Senate during his 2006 confirmation hearing for the D.C. appellate court that he would “follow Roe v. Wade faithfully and fully,” noting the original decision “has been reaffirmed many times.”
[More: Twitter erupts after Trump nominates Brett Kavanaugh to Supreme Court]
