Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Vaccine Info
  • Money
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Vaccine Info
    Money
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism

There’s a reason CT Dems among the first to say they’ll vote ‘no’ on Kavanaugh

  • Justice
  • by Ana Radelat
  • July 10, 2018
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

Mike Pence Twitter

Vice President Mike Pence, right, walks into the Capitol with Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh.

Washington – When President Donald Trump nominated federal judge Neil Gorsuch to fill an open seat on the Supreme Court last year, Connecticut’s Democratic senators waited two months before deciding to vote against the candidate.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, received a “courtesy” visit from Gorsuch that resulted in a Twitter war with Trump after the senator said the judge told him the president’s attacks on the judiciary were “disheartening” and “demoralizing.” Blumenthal went on to grill Gorsuch during his nomination hearing before deciding to vote “no.”

Sen. Chris Murphy said he wanted to review the more than 20 hours of questioning of Gorsuch in the Senate Judiciary committee before making up his mind. Then Murphy also opposed the nominee. At that point, about 20 of his Democratic colleagues had already come out in opposition.

But on Monday night, almost immediately after Trump announced his pick of federal judge Brett Kavanaugh to fill the seat of retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy, Connecticut’s senators rushed to be among the first to say on the record they will oppose the nomination.

There’s a reason for their haste.

Gorsuch was selected to replace former Justice Antonin Scalia, who died suddenly. Scalia was one of the most dependable conservatives on the court, so replacing him with another conservative, Gorsuch, would not tilt its ideological balance.

But Kavanaugh would replace Kennedy, who sometimes voted with the liberals on the court, even though he mostly joined his fellow conservative justices.

“Judge Gorsuch had a different record and different writings,” Blumenthal said Tuesday, explaining his immediate rejection of Kavanaugh. “This is filling a different seat. This is a swing seat.”

Blumenthal also said that Kavanaugh was a known entity, and on a list of potential Supreme Court nominees drawn up for Trump by the conservative Federalist Society and Heritage Foundation.

“He was screened and vetted by right-wing groups that made the president a puppet,” Blumenthal said.

Trump’s ability to tilt the high court to the right is now a campaign issue and a way to raise campaign cash for liberal Democrats – as well as conservative Republicans. Kavanaugh’s  nomination battle in the run-up to November’s midterm elections is infused with politics.

In the hopes of wresting the Senate from GOP control, Connecticut’s senators joined most other Senate Democrats in calling for Kavanaugh’s confirmation vote to be held after the midterm elections.  It is a futile effort.

Senate Republicans have pledged a swift confirmation process that would put Kavanaugh on the bench before the new term begins Oct. 1 – and there is little Democrats can do to stop them.

That doesn’t mean they won’t try.

Like other Democrats, Blumenthal and Murphy are framing the fight over Kavanaugh as one about protecting civil rights and access to abortion. Connecticut’s senators are also warning that Kavanaugh could hear cases that would undermine the Affordable Care Act and the state’s tough gun laws.

Blumenthal has also raised the concern that Kavanaugh could hear cases that will test whether the president can defy a subpoena, pardon his friends or himself, or fire a special counsel.

“I have reviewed his record and the more I review those records and writings the more I’m persuaded that they signal hostility to rights and liberties that are precious to all Americans,” Blumenthal said.

Murphy called the nominee “a radical, anti-consumer, anti-woman jurist.”

“On issue after issue, Judge Kavanaugh is a dream for the far right, and a nightmare for hard-working families in Connecticut,” Murphy said.

On Tuesday, Murphy spoke on the Senate floor of the threat Kavanaugh poses to the Affordable Care Act, which is being challenged in a Texas federal court.

The case, which could go to the Supreme Court, was filed by governors from conservative states who want to eliminate some ACA provisions, including the prohibition on insurers denying coverage to people with pre-exising health conditions.

“The likelihood that they will take away your health care if you have any of these preexisting conditions is radically increased if Judge Kavanaugh is confirmed,” Murphy warned.

In remarks Monday night after his nomination, Kavanaugh seemed to anticipate lines of attack from Democrats. He spoke of his mother’s work as a teacher in predominantly African-American public schools in Washington, D.C., and his hiring of a diverse collection of law clerks, most of them women.

“I will tell each senator that I revere the Constitution. I believe that an independent judiciary is the crown jewel of our constitutional republic,” he said. “If confirmed by the Senate, I will keep an open mind in every case.”

To defeat Kavanaugh, Democrats would need to forge a united front against the nominee and flip at least one Republican against him, a steep challenge. Republican have a slim 51-49 majority in the Senate.

“All we need is one,” Blumenthal said, if ailing Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is unable to attend the Senate confirmation vote.

Blumenthal said the strategy is to persuade voters to influence a Republican senator or two, most likely moderate Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, or Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, to vote against Kavanaugh.

“The Republicans are in control of the Senate, but the American people are on our side,” Blumenthal said.

Both the Blumenthal and Murphy campaigns are collecting signatures on petitions in opposition to Kavanaugh.

Democrats could also try to slow Kavanaugh’s confirmation by demanding to review hundreds of thousands of White House records pertaining to the nominee’s two years spent in President George W. Bush’s White House counsel’s office and just over three as Bush’s staff secretary.

Meanwhile, Kavanaugh visited the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday with Vice President Mike Pence to begin his series of courtesy calls  to members of the Senate Judiciary Committee and other key senators.

Blumenthal said he does not know if he will receive a visit from Kavanaugh.

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.

The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 90% of our revenue comes from people like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you helped make it happen.

YES, I'LL DONATE TODAY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ana Radelat Ana has written about politics and policy in Washington, D.C.. for Gannett, Thompson Reuters and UPI. She was a special correspondent for the Miami Herald, and a regular contributor to The New York TImes, Advertising Age and several other publications. She has also worked in broadcast journalism, for CNN and several local NPR stations. She is a graduate of the University of Maryland School of Journalism.

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
Connecticut House joins national civil rights campaign over Black hair styles
by Mark Pazniokas

The Connecticut House voted for a bill intended to protect Black women from discrimination over their hair.

CT legislature poised to make early budget pledge to help cities and towns
by Keith M. Phaneuf

The state House is expected to approve more than $100 million in new, annual PILOT grants to municipalities.

Three weeks into COVID-19 vaccinations, DOC has vaccinated 10% of inmates, 40% of staff
by Kelan Lyons

Fewer than 850 incarcerated people had been vaccinated as of Feb. 22.

Connecticut GOP picks Susan Hatfield as state chair
by Mark Pazniokas

Susan Hatfield, vice chair of the Connecticut Republican Party, will complete the term of the former chair, J.R. Romano.

Senator alleges voter fraud, but no complaint was filed
by Mark Pazniokas

Rob Sampson said a voter in his district was told an absentee ballot already had been cast in her name.

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion Gas pipeline will threaten water quality, wildlife and wetlands
by Susan Eastwood

The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection has granted tentative approval of the 401 water quality certification for the Pomfret to Killingly natural gas pipeline. I urge DEEP to deny the 401 certification, as the proposed pipeline would violate the Connecticut’s water quality standards, and the conditions in the draft certification fail to protect our streams, wetlands, and wildlife.

Opinion Connecticut and the other Connecticut. Which will endure?
by Ezra Kaprov

What comes to mind when you hear the word ‘Connecticut’? Possibly, you think of a 43-year-old Puerto Rican man who arrived here with his family following Hurricane Maria. He works full-time as a machinist at the Sikorsky plant, and he coaches a prizefighter on the side.

Opinion COVID-19 increases urgency for legislature to pass medical aid-in-dying law
by Dr. Gary Blick

The COVID-19 crisis has exposed the profound tragedy of loved ones dying alone, in a hospital or nursing home, without the care and comfort of loved ones surrounding them. This pandemic also demonstrates the fragility of life, the limits of modern medicine to relieve suffering, and has magnified the systemic racial disparities in our healthcare system, resulting in higher hospitalization and death rates for people in communities of color. We must eradicate these disparities, so everyone has equal access to the full range of end-of-life care options.

Opinion Three fallacies and the truth about vaccines
by Kerri M. Raissian, Ph.D. and Dr. Jody Terranova

Connecticut’s Public Health Committee recently heard public testimony regarding HB6423 and SB568 --  bills that would remove the religious exemption (the medical exemption would rightfully remain in place) from vaccination in order to attend school.  The religious exemption allows parents to effectively opt their children out of vaccines. In doing so, these families can still send their children to Connecticut’s schools, daycares, colleges, and camps.  This places other children at risk of contracting vaccine-preventable illnesses, and it is imperative the Connecticut legislature remove this exception.

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than numbers in a prison and much more than victims of societal dispositions. This piece depicts a melanated young man draped in a cape ascending high above multiple forms of oppression. […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in new skin?”

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is the catalyst to all my work, and plays a major influence in each piece of work.”

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture and Art masterpieces and applying the vintage 1960’s and 70’s classic figures (Fisher Price, little people) to the make an amusing pieces. Here is my homage to Fisher -Price, Yellow […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO