Say what one likes about President Donald Trump, but there has generally been very little daylight between the intentions he expressed in 2016 and his decisions in office. As a candidate he vowed to nominate federal judges “in the mold of” Justice Antonin Scalia, and he has done so. The nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh, the president’s second nomination to the Supreme Court, continues that pattern.

Kavanaugh, 53, has written a great deal, and Senate Democrats are certain to find every turn of phrase in his extensive oeuvre that can reasonably—or unreasonably—be read in an unfavorable light. After graduating from Yale and Yale Law and clerking for appeals court judges, Kavanaugh worked for Ken Starr when the latter was independent counsel during the Clinton-Lewinsky investigation and was a chief author of the Starr Report—which, despite accusations to the contrary in 1998, was a fair, thorough, and nuanced work of analysis. He then worked as an attorney for President George W. Bush, and later as White House staff secretary, one of the most demanding jobs in Washington.