Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley gave Judge Brett Kavanaugh a chance to offer a pre-buttal to any concerns raised by Democrats that he won’t be an independent check on President Trump, who nominated him to the Supreme Court.
“No one is above the law in our constitutional system,” Kavanaugh said.
He said judges should make decisions based on the law, “not based on policy, not based on political pressure, not based on the identity of the political parties.”
To stress this point, Kavanaugh brought up a number of Supreme Court cases where the justices ruled against the presidents who appointed them, including USA v. Nixon, where the court ordered President Nixon to hand over subpoenaed materials.
Kavanaugh previously questioned the decision in a 1999 interview.
Kavanaugh also cited his own decision in 2012 in favor of a defendant who was involved in the September 11, 2001 attacks and was convicted under the George W. Bush administration, where Kavanaugh had previously worked.
“You’ll never have a nominee who has ruled for a more unpopular defendant,” he said.
