WASHINGTON DC — Utah Senator Orrin Hatch says he will lift heaven and earth to make sure Brett Kavanaugh is confirmed. He calls him an outstanding choice.
“I know him from his previous confirmation to the D.C. Circuit. He is one of our nation’s most distinguished and influential jurists,” said Hatch in a statement. “He has shown a deep commitment to the separation of powers and to both the First and Second Amendment. He will be a strong, principled voice on the Supreme Court.”
This will be his 15th Supreme Court confirmation fight since becoming a senator.
Senator Mike Lee also praised the pick.
“Judge Kavanaugh is a well-respected jurist who deservedly received bipartisan support when confirmed to the D.C. Circuit in 2006,” said Lee. “I know him to be a smart and fair judge, one of the most admired appellate judges in the country.
“I look forward to the process in the Senate, getting to know Judge Kavanaugh and his family better in coming months, and, hopefully, voting to confirm him to the Supreme Court in the fall,” he said.
Lee was on the shortlist, and was interviewed by the President for the job, and got a call Monday saying he was not the pick.
Hatch said he expects a fight with the Democrats over the nomination will be “vicious.”
“The Democrats are so upset that the Republicans have this opportunity of appointing nominees to the court that they just make every doggone appointment a cause celeb, and that’s just ridiculous,” he said.