President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, federal judge Brett Kavanaugh, can expect tough questions on a range of issues when he faces a Senate confirmation hearing sometime in the next few months.
Democrats are likely to pepper Kavanaugh with questions about his stance on abortion, gay rights and affirmative action. But another key area of interest is Kavanaugh’s expansive view of presidential power, something Democrats want to press him on with Trump in the White House.
When he was nominated at the White House earlier this month, Kavanaugh pledged to bring an independent mindset to the high court.
Democrats have vowed to fight Kavanaugh’s nomination from the start, fearing his appointment could ensure a strongly conservative court for a generation. Several have also expressed concern about his views on executive power.
Kavanaugh worked in the White House of President George W. Bush. Kavanaugh wrote an article in 2009, in which he said that presidents “should be excused from the burdens of ordinary citizenship while serving in office.”