Dem senator: Kavanaugh sides with ‘wealthiest special interests’

Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow (Mich.) on Friday announced that she will oppose Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court, saying he has sided special interests.

Based on Kavanaugh’s cases and writings “it is clear that he has chosen to side with the wealthiest special interests over the majority of Americans time after time,” Stabenow said in a statement.

The Michigan Democrat previously opposed Neil Gorsuch, President Trump’s first Supreme Court nominee. Her opposition to Kavanaugh comes just months before the November midterms, when she is up for reelection in a state Trump won in 2016.

Stabenow also pointed to concerns that Kavanaugh, if confirmed, could undercut the Affordable Care Act and women’s health care, as well as environmental laws.

“I have another deep concern as well,” she added. “Of all the choices the President had for this position, he chose the one person who has indicated on the record that he believes the President is above the law.”

Democrats have homed in on Kavanaugh’s writing on executive power, arguing he would protect Trump from special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into potential collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia if it ever reaches the courts.

Kavanaugh wrote in a 2009 Minnesota Law Review article that a president should be able to focus with as “few distractions as possible” and that an indictment would “cripple” the federal government.

“I believe that the President should be excused from some of the burdens of ordinary citizenship while serving in office,” he wrote.

In addition to Stabenow, Michigan Sen. Gary Peters (D) also announced his opposition to Kavanaugh’s nomination on Friday.

“The Supreme Court is supposed to protect the fundamental rights of all Americans, and I believe Judge Kavanaugh’s judicial record shows that he will put the needs of special interests and large corporations ahead of the American people,” he said in a statement.

Peters is up for reelection in 2020.