Kentucky Republican Rand Paul announced via Twitter Monday that he would support President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, after previously expressing misgivings about Kavanaugh’s decisions related to surveillance and data collection.
After meeting Judge Kavanaugh and reviewing his record, I have decided to support his nomination. No one will ever completely agree with a nominee (unless of course, you are the nominee). Each nominee however, must be judged on the totality of their views character and opinions.
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) July 30, 2018
At issue was a 2015 case in which Kavanaugh wrote that the National Security Agency’s bulk collection of metadata was “entirely consistent with the Fourth Amendment.” At the opposite end of the spectrum, Paul, an outspoken advocate for online privacy, argues that the government should have to obtain a warrant before collecting metadata. Paul’s libertarian allies such as Michigan Republican Justin Amash have urged against Kavanaugh’s confirmation because of the issue.
“Of course, my vote is not a single-issue vote,” Paul wrote in a tweet thread explaining his support. He pointed to Kavanaugh’s “originalist point of view” and suggested the nominee would “take his job to protect individual liberty seriously.”’
“[H]is strong defenses of the First and Second Amendments in landmark cases show someone who isn’t afraid to challenge the status quo and will fight with backbone,” said Paul. “Judge Kavanaugh will have my support and my vote to confirm him to the Supreme Court.”
Paul’s support serves as a major relief to Republican leaders in the White House and the Senate, where the party has a slim majority of just 51 votes. Democrats, intent on sinking the nomination, hope to convince pro-choice Republicans Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski to split from their ranks and vote against Kavanaugh. The two senators have avoided taking a firm public stance one way or the other on the question yet.
