Sanders Statement on Supreme Court Nominee

Monday, July 9, 2018

WASHINGTON, July 9 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) issued the following statement Monday after President Donald Trump announced he is nominating Brett Kavanaugh to be an associate justice on the U.S. Supreme Court:

"Let us be clear: President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh will be a rubber-stamp for an extreme, right-wing agenda pushed by corporations and billionaires. The coming Senate debate over the replacement of retiring Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy is about the future of Roe v. Wade, campaign finance reform, voting rights, workers' rights, health care, climate change, environmental protection and gun safety.

"Brett Kavanaugh, contrary to 200 years of Supreme Court precedent, believes a president 'may decline to enforce a statute . . . when the president deems the statute unconstitutional.' He ruled against a migrant teenager seeking to be released from custody in order to obtain an abortion. He believes a president can only be indicted after he leaves office and should not be subjected to civil suits while in office. He ruled the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was unconstitutional. And he would not uphold the Affordable Care Act’s contraception mandate.

"I do not believe a person with those views should be given a lifetime seat on the Supreme Court. We must mobilize the American people to defeat Trump’s right-wing, reactionary nominee."

Contact: Josh_Miller-Lewis@sanders.senate.gov

https://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sanders-statement-on-supreme-court-nominee-2018