DEMOCRATS DEMAND KAVANAUGH REVEAL HOW HE'D VOTE ON ABORTION, HEALTH CARE

Democrats demand Kavanaugh reveal how he'd vote on abortion, health care

By Alex Swoyer - The Washington Times - Monday, July 23, 2018

Democratic senators said Monday that Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s past willingness to take positions on decades-old Supreme Court cases means he must also be forced to answer questions about how he would rule on abortion and health care cases.

At stake is the standard senators will use when questioning Judge Kavanaugh, President Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court, during his confirmation hearings, and in confirmation votes.

Republicans have said Judge Kavanaugh should decline to answer questions about cases that could come before him on the high court, calling that the “Ginsburg Standard” used by liberal icon Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to deflect questions during her confirmation hearings.

But Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer said Monday that Judge Kavanaugh hasn’t been shy about offering his opinions on major cases even while serving for the last 12 years as a judge on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia — and senators shouldn’t let him start clamming up now.

Mr. Schumer’s major piece of evidence is a 2016 speech Judge Kavanaugh gave to the American Enterprise Institute disagreeing with a 1988 Supreme Court ruling upholding the Independent Counsel Act.

Democrats also point to a roundtable discussion Judge Kavanaugh held with lawyers several years ago, according to the Associated Press, where he suggested the Supreme Court’s 1974 decision in U.S. v. Nixon was wrongly decided. That was the case that forced President Nixon to hand over the Watergate tapes.

“If Kavanuagh would have let Nixon off the hook, what is he willing to do for President Trump? This should set off alarm bells,” Mr. Schumer said.

The Democratic leader said Judge Kavanaugh must say whether he would overturn Roe v Wade, the 1973 case legalizing abortion, and also weigh in on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, which the high court upheld in 2012, during his confirmation hearing.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota Democrat, said she was troubled by Judge Kavanaugh’s 2009 article in the Minnesota Law Review arguing that a sitting president should be immune from civil lawsuits.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut Democrat, said Judge Kavanaugh appears to have a strong predilection for siding with the executive branch.

Mr. Blumenthal said in light of that, Judge Kavanaugh must promise to recuse himself from all cases dealing with the special counsel’s investigation into the 2016 election, and cases dealing with Mr. Trump’s finances.

That could include two cases that could end up at the high court: special counsel Robert Mueller’s clash with Mr. Trump over a potential subpoena, and an ongoing case over whether Mr. Trump has disassociated himself enough from his business empire to stay within the Constitution’s emoluments clause.

Mr. Blumenthal is the lead plaintiff in a case arguing Mr. Trump, through his network of eponymous hotels, is profiting from foreign governments, in violation of the Constitution.

That case is pending in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

“We are not dealing with complete unknowns here,” Mr. Blumenthal said.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/jul/23/democrats-kavanaugh-must-say-how-hell-rule-abortio/?

My comments: The Democrats do not want to live by their own Rules.