The U.S. Senate must put the brakes on lifetime appointments to the Supreme Court including Judge Brett Kavanaugh.
Our system of government is built on the separation of powers where the executive, legislative, and judicial branches are co-equal. The Senate, which is supposed to the legislature’s “deliberative body,” has the sole power to “advise and consent” on presidential appointments.
No matter who occupies the White House, senators and the public should be fully informed with all that’s at stake before consenting to a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court.Send a message to your senators today >>
We are in an unprecedented situation. President Trump is a subject of investigation by the Department of Justice related to alleged corruption of our elections. Matters arising from the investigation could be headed the Supreme Court.
But right now, Senate leadership wants to rush through Trump’s pick for a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court, seating a judge who may eventually rule on the multiple investigations involving him. And all without having access to Judge Kavanaugh’s complete record.
Waiting until there is more public information about the investigations and his record will allow senators to evaluate more fully the basis of the president’s decision to choose a specific nominee for a lifetime seat on the high court.
This is about trust in the rule of law.If Trump gets his way, and rushes Kavanaugh’s confirmation through before we get all the answers we need, it could undermine the public’s confidence in a fair Supreme Court.
The Senate must hit the brakes on Kavanaugh’s confirmation no hearings, no votes as well as any other lifetime Supreme Court appointments until the full record is laid bare about the nominee’s record, and the Senate has the full results of the Mueller investigation into possible illegal campaign activity.
The Senate should live up to its duty to only proceed when its judgment is fully informed. It cannot yet provide consent on the appointment of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court and any other lifetime Supreme Court nomination made before the major investigations of President Trump are resolved.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller is investigating Russia’s attack on the 2016 election and whether the Trump campaign was involved. He’s already brought nearly 3 dozen indictments, 5 guilty pleas, and a jury conviction of Paul Manafort, who chaired Trump’s campaign. The President has been named in federal court by his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, as coordinating and directing election-related crimes.
Throughout all this, Donald Trump has routinely attacked the investigation as illegitimate demanding that officials put personal loyalty to him above their public duties. But the Supreme Court, which may have to resolve constitutional questions that arise from the Mueller probe, must be completely independent, in public perception and in fact, from the President.
Common Cause doesn’t come to this decision lightly we’ve worked for nearly 50 years to uphold the core values of our democracy, and protect public trust in the integrity of government. And, we’ve fought many times against politicians who have politicized and damaged our judicial confirmation process.
The Senate’s duty to provide “advice and consent” on nominees is meant to be a deliberative process not one that is rushed or timed to maximize political leverage on Senators up for re-election.
In these extraordinary circumstances including an incomplete record of the nominee’s relevant professional documents, and incomplete DOJ investigations into Trump and alleged corruption of the electoral process we must urge the Senate to put the confirmation process on hold until a complete record of all that’s at stake is made public.
