KAVANAUGH’S D.C. CONNECTIONS ARE WORKING IN HIS FAVOR

Powerline ^ | 07/13/18

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Majority Leader Mitch McConnell reportedly advised President Trump that Thomas Hardiman and Raymond Kethledge, two circuit court judges with only slight connections to Washington, D.C., would be easier to confirm than Brett Kavanaugh, a D.C. circuit court judge with a lifetime of connections to the city. McConnell may have been right. Judge Kavanaugh’s work in Washington has generated a very long paper trail that predates his service to the judiciary. In addition, some of his work for the Bush administration may give Sen. Rand Paul pause.

But because of his outstanding personal qualities, Kavanaugh also benefits from his Washington connections. He is known and highly respected by the D.C. legal establishment (and its branch offices at Yale and Harvard law schools), including many Democrats. As such, Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski should be able to get comfortable with nomination. Indeed, there are indications that Collins and Murkowski are already comfortable (a feeling subject to change, of course, depending on what the confirmation process may reveal).

Richard Lazarus is a highly respected law professor at Harvard who specializes in environmental law. For years, he taught in D.C. at Georgetown law school. He’s a liberal.

Prof. Lazarus describes Kavanaugh as “a really decent person, with enormous integrity.”