U.S. Senator Richard Shelby, R-Alabama, expressed his strong support for President Donald J. Trump’s (R) nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, following their meeting.
“After speaking with Judge Brett Kavanaugh, I am confident that he is principled, intelligent, and a steadfast supporter of the rule of law,” said Senator Shelby. “He is highly-qualified for this role and exhibits strong, conservative values and an unwavering commitment to our Constitution. I have no doubt that Judge Kavanaugh will uphold the principles on which our nation was founded.”
“Confirming Judge Kavanaugh is one of the most important things we will do during this Congress,” Shelby said. “I look forward to supporting his nomination to serve on our nation’s highest court, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.”
The announcement follows a key endorsement from Senator Rand Paul, R-Kentucky.
“After meeting Judge Kavanaugh and reviewing his record, I have decided to support his nomination,” Paul said on Monday. “No one will ever completely agree with a nominee (unless, of course, you are the nominee). Each nominee, however, must be judged on the totality of their views, character, and opinions.“
“I have expressed my concern over Judge Kavanaugh’s record on warrantless bulk collection of data and how that might apply to very important privacy cases before the Supreme Court,” Sen. Paul continued. “In reviewing his record on other privacy cases like Jones, and through my conversation with him, I have hope that in light of the new precedent in Carpenter v. United States, Judge Kavanaugh will be more open to a Fourth Amendment that protects digital records and property. Of course, my vote is not a single-issue vote, and much of my reading and conversation has been in trying to figure out exactly how good Judge Kavanaugh will be on other issues before the Court.”
“My conversation with Judge Kavanaugh reinforces my belief that he will evaluate cases before the Supreme Court from a textual and originalist point of view,” Sen. Paul concluded.
Since his nomination by President Trump earlier this month, Judge Kavanaugh has been making routine visits to Capitol Hill to meet with Senators on both sides of the aisle.
Senator Doug Jones, D-Alabama, has still not met with Kavanaugh and still is undecided on whether to support President Trump’s nominee,
Judge Kavanaugh served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit for more than decade and currently serves as the Samuel Williston Lecturer in Law at Harvard Law School. He served in the George W. Bush Administration and it was Pres. Bush who appointed him to the federal bench. Kavanaugh clerked for Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, Ninth Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski, and Third Circuit Judge Walter Stapleton. He has more than 300 published opinions, including more than a dozen endorsements by the Supreme Court.
According to the U.S. Constitution, it is the constitutional responsibility of the U.S. Senate to provide “advice and consent” to the President on all executive nominations, including judges to federal courts, appeals courts, and the Supreme Court.
Senator Richard Shelby was first elected to Congress in 1978 and to the Senate in 1978. He was elected to the Alabama State Senate in 1970.
Both Shelby and Jones are attorneys.
