A top Democratic senator on Sunday defended his and his colleagues questioning of U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, arguing that the most pressing red flag facing the federal appeals court judge’s appointment is his expansive views of presidential power.
“I can tell you we were focused on Roe [v. Wade], we were focused on the Affordable Care Act and denying health insurance coverage to millions of Americans,” Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said during an interview with NBC News. “We tried to go after the fundamental issue, and the one I think is the most important at this moment in history … what this man, Brett Kavanaugh, would do on the Supreme Court if he’s confronted with a question involving the White House, the Mueller investigation.”
Kavanaugh’s beliefs on the matter have received attention given the prospect of the Supreme Court having to decide whether special counsel Robert Mueller can subpoena President Trump as part of the federal Russia probe.
Kavanaugh has written about executive authority based on his experience as a lawyer who helped independent counsel Kenneth Starr report his recommendation that former President Bill Clinton be impeached, and later as an aide to the George W. Bush administration.
“Having seen first-hand how complex and difficult that job is, I believe it is vital that the president be able to focus on his never-ending tasks with as few distractions as possible,” Kavanaugh wrote in a 2009 Minnesota Law Review article, referring to investigations and criminal lawsuits.
Although his comments seem to advocate for greater executive powers, he added that presidents should face the consequences of any alleged wrongdoing after they leave office because “no one is above the law.”
Durbin, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Sunday that Kavanaugh’s stance represented “an amazing ceding of authority to the executive branch, which you don’t expect to hear from someone aspiring to the Supreme Court.”
“Well, I think they’re all of importance,” he continued. “But the issue of the moment, clearly, is this situation with the Mueller investigation. And the important element that we shouldn’t overlook is that Kavanaugh has been explicit, explicit in saying the president should not be subject to investigation or prosecution during his term in office.”
