On Monday night, President Donald Trump announced his pick to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, Circuit Court Judge Brett Kavanaugh. Prior to the announcement, issues with Kavanaugh had been raised based on his judicial record and an article he wrote in 2009.
After the announcement by Trump, several prominent Democratic senators, many of whom appear to be looking toward the 2020 presidential race, came out strongly against Kavanaugh. Among them are New Jersey Senator Cory Booker who stated on Twitter:
The nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court is alarming & I’m strongly opposed to his confirmation."
In a thread of 17 tweets, Booker outlined the issues with Kavanaugh becoming a member of SCOTUS.
Booker also called on citizens to contact their own elected representatives in the Senate.
Equally vocal is New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand who stated:
President Trump just announced Brett Kavanaugh as his nominee to the Supreme Court. One thing’s already clear from his record: He can’t be trusted to safeguard rights for women, workers or to end the flow of corporate money to campaigns."
In her own Twitter thread, Gillibrand also called on citizens to let their senators know how they feel about Kavanaugh.
Since the nomination, one of the most vocal opponents has been Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley.
On both his personal and Senate Twitter accounts, Merkley came out in strong opposition against Kavanaugh.
Also clearly opposed to Kavanaugh obtaining a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court of the United States was California Senator Kamala Harris, who has also been mentioned as a potential presidential nominee in 2020. Harris is a former prosecutor and Attorney General well familiar with the law.
Harris joined others on the steps of the Supreme Court Tuesday morning to voice opposition to Trump's choice of Kavanaugh.
Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, also often mentioned when speculation is made about the 2020 presidential Democratic nomination, voiced their intent to oppose a Kavanaugh lifetime appointment as well.
No date has been specified yet for Senate hearings regarding Kavanaugh's fitness for the Supreme Court.
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