The National Abortion Federation opposes the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the District of Columbia Circuit of the United States Court of Appeals. Kavanaugh, a senior White House aide, is known for his right-wing politics and active participation in the Bush administration's selection of conservative judicial nominees. The nomination of Kavanaugh to the highly influential District of Columbia Circuit is a continuation of the administration's larger strategy to pack the courts with ideologues rather than moderate judges.
As associate counsel in the Bush White House, Kavanaugh has been instrumental in putting forth the nominations of anti-choice candidates for the federal appellate courts. These nominees include Claude Allen, Janice Rogers Brown, Michael Fisher, Carolyn Kuhl, Michael McConnell, Priscilla Owen, Charles Pickering, Bill Pryor, John Roberts, Diane Sykes, and Timothy Tymkovich. From Pryor's terming Roe v. Wade "the worst abomination in the history of constitutional law" and urging its reversal to McConnell's argument against the validity of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, this slate of nominees represents the administration's overt hostility to a woman's right to choose. In questioning during his confirmation hearing, Kavanaugh was unable to cite a single pro-choice nominee out of the over 200 nominations put forward by this administration to the federal courts.
Additionally, Kavanaugh lacks relevant judicial experience. His dearth of trial and litigation work indicate that his nomination to an appellate court regarded as second in influence to only the U.S. Supreme Court is political payback rather than a merit-based nomination. The District of Columbia circuit reviews cases arising from many executive agencies from the Food and Drug Administration to the Environmental Protection Agency. The nomination of someone with so little substantive legal experience raises questions about Kavanaugh's ability to be impartial in matters concerning the current administration that will surely come before him should he be confirmed.
Selection of such a controversial nominee for appointment to the most influential of appellate courts shows that the Bush Administration continues to ignore Americans' desire for an independent judiciary. It is time for the administration to stop their efforts to pack the courts and nominate judges who can fairly adjudicate matters of personal privacy such as abortion. Our courts are too important to be used as political rewards. For these reasons, NAF opposes the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals.
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