Families Belong Together: Freedom for Immigrants + Willy Sanjuan
Sen. Kamala Harris came out in opposition to Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court within 20 minutes of President Trump'due south announcement of his pick. Sen. Dianne Feinstein was invited to the White Business firm to lookout the president reveal his selection, but declined — and after issued a statement that stopped only short of declaring she'd vote confronting the nominee.
The reaction of California'southward 2 U.Due south. senators — both members of the Judiciary Committee, which volition hold confirmation hearings on Kavanaugh — was an indication of the near-universal contemptuousness with which Democrats greeted Trump's announcement Monday that he had picked the 53-twelvemonth-old federal appeals judge to replace the retiring Supreme Courtroom Justice Anthony Kennedy.
Among conservatives, Trump's selection brought widespread praise. But two Republican senators whose votes could exist crucial to Kavanaugh taking a seat on the bench withheld judgment until the confirmation process unfolds over the coming weeks.
Harris didn't wait, saying in a statement that "Judge Kavanaugh has consistently proven to be a conservative ideologue instead of a mainstream jurist." She cited opinions he's written that would accept denied a 17-twelvemonth-former undocumented immigrant the ability to obtain an abortion and another backing employers' correct to refuse to offer nativity-control coverage in health plans based on personal behavior.
"Judge Brett Kavanaugh represents a direct and fundamental threat to (the) promise of equality, so I will oppose his nomination to the Supreme Court," Harris said.
Feinstein, the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, did not say how she would vote. But she was clear that Kavanaugh, a judge on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals and former White House lawyer under George W. Bush-league, wasn't what she had in mind to replace Kennedy, who was a swing vote on the loftier court on problems including abortion, gay rights and gun laws.
"His views are far outside the legal mainstream when it comes to access to health care, executive power, gun safe, worker protections, women'south reproductive freedom, and the authorities's power to ensure clean air and water, to name a few," Feinstein said. "Nosotros need a nominee who understands that the courtroom is at that place to protect the rights of all Americans, not just political interest groups and the powerful."
Feinstein was one of five Democratic senators invited past the White House to sentry as Trump revealed his nominee. All 5 turned downwards the offer, with Feinstein'south office declining to say why she did not attend.
The stances of California's senators was a sign of how fiddling margin for mistake Kavanaugh volition take in the confirmation procedure. Republicans hold a 51-49 bulk, but with GOP Sen. John McCain of Arizona battling brain cancer, Kavanaugh will need every Republican vote if Democrats are unified in their opposition.
Much of the focus will be on two Republican senators who have indicated support for Roe vs. Wade, the 1973 decision legalizing abortion — Maine's Susan Collins and Alaska's Lisa Murkowski. Collins said Monday that "Approximate Kavanaugh has impressive credentials and all-encompassing feel," and that she would " bear a careful, thorough vetting of the president's nominee."
Murkowski was similarly noncommittal, proverb she would consider several factors, including Kavanaugh's testimony before the Judiciary Commission.
The chair of that committee, Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, showered praise on Kavanaugh, whom he chosen "one of the most qualified Supreme Court nominees to come before the Senate." Bush-league said Kavanaugh is an "outstanding" pick — "a man of the highest integrity."
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who will take to shepherd the nomination through the chamber, said Kavanaugh "is an impressive nominee who is extremely well qualified to serve every bit an associate justice of the Supreme Courtroom."
Key players on the right all signaled their support for Trump's pick, including the the National Rifle Association, Heritage Foundation and the National Right to Life. The antiabortion group tweeted its thanks to the president and said Roe vs. Wade "deserves to go the fashion of the Court's other embarrassments and misfires."
McConnell's Autonomous counterpart in the Senate, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, fabricated it clear that his party would focus on the possibility that the landmark abortion ruling could be reversed past "five men on the Supreme Court."
Abortion-rights advocates' concern for Roe vs. Wade is not misplaced, said Crystal Strait, CEO of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California. "Brett Kavanaugh was the scariest person on (Trump's) listing" of high court finalists, Strait said.
LGBTQ groups also signaled their warning, saying Kavanugh was mitt-selected past far-right groups and that his nomination was celebrated by the Family Enquiry Council. The Southern Poverty Law Center has labeled the council an anti-LGBTQ hate group, something the group has called "character assassination."
"Gauge Brett Kavanaugh is a far-right extremist who may satisfy the litmus exam established by the president's supporters, merely has consistently ruled against some of our nigh cardinal American freedoms," said Rick Zbur, executive director of the gay rights group Equality California.
Melody Gutierrez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mgutierrez@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @MelodyGutierrez
Source: https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Kamala-Harris-will-vote-no-on-Kavanaugh-13061616.php
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