WEST WING MHI Daily

Senate Democrats’ Disingenuous Double Standard for Supremely Qualified Kavanaugh

“Times have changed for Senate Democrats,” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) writes in The Daily Signal about Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing this week. “Why are they dropping the Kagan standard and adopting a double standard, demanding millions of additional documents that are both deeply sensitive and largely irrelevant?” he asks. “Perhaps it’s because it isn’t about reaching an informed decision at all.”Perhaps instead it’s about dutifully marching in lockstep behind Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who within minutes of Kavanaugh’s nomination declared: “I will oppose Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination with everything I have.” The reality is Senate Democrats know they lack any basis to oppose Kavanaugh, so they have turned to hypocritical requests for irrelevant documents and have engaged in hyperbole to describe Kavanaugh’s nomination as the end to policy outcomes they support. Kavanaugh’s rulings aren’t meant to be for or against a particular policy outcome, aren’t meant to be a commentary on politics or public policy, or reflect his personal views or morality. His opinions simply order the outcome the law—as passed by Congress—dictates. Nothing more, nothing less. He understands that a judge is supposed to be an umpire. Someone who applies the rules of the road fairly and uniformly, and doesn’t change the rules in mid-game. My review of Kavanaugh’s record persuades me that he is not only one of the most eminently qualified individuals ever to be nominated, but that he also understands the appropriate and proper role of a judge in our federal system. In Kavanaugh’s opinions, he has time and time again reached the conclusion dictated by the law, not by his personal policy preferences. Kavanaugh has been praised by liberals and conservatives alike as a “brilliant jurist” who is an extraordinary choice to serve on the Supreme Court. He has received the highest rating from the American Bar Association unanimously, an evaluation that Schumer once described as “the gold standard by which judicial candidates are judged.” If his qualification were still in doubt, the Supreme Court has upheld Kavanaugh’s legal position in 13 cases. Kavanaugh, an impeccably qualified mainstream jurist who interprets the law as it is written, knows the role of the Supreme Court. I have no doubt that during this week’s hearings, anyone who looks at Kavanaugh’s record objectively is going to be hard-pressed to find that he doesn’t have the experience needed to be a justice on the Supreme Court. I look forward to working with my colleagues in the Senate to ensure he is confirmed in the coming weeks. Woodward didn’t dare write about Trump’s accomplishments – ‘Fear’ is designed to help Dems win in November “If President Reagan was alive today, upon hearing about Bob Woodward’s latest book on the Trump presidency I imagine him delivering one of his most famous lines: ‘There you go again,’” David Bossie writes in Fox News. “President Trump is the ultimate political outsider who was elected by the American people to come to Washington to confront the entrenched D.C. establishment and failed status quo that Bob Woodward has reported on for almost 50 years.” So the title Woodward has chosen is personal in nature; swamp creatures don’t like change. There’s another obvious reason that Woodward chose this title. He couldn’t call his book “Trump’s War,” because this president prefers talking tough to world leaders and solving problems instead of bowing and apologizing for America. Woodward couldn’t call the book “Trump’s Recession” either, because this president’s economy is on fire, growing at an amazing 4.2 percent annual clip. And Woodward certainly couldn’t call his book “Trump’s Failures,” because this president by all accounts has kept his promises – something foreign to a cynical insider’s insider like Woodward. So Woodward picked a title that’s short and sweet because his substance is trite and gossipy, when you pull back and look at the big picture. The more salacious allegations in the book are junior varsity in nature and have been vehemently denied by some of the book’s targets, like Defense Secretary James Mattis and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly. And the timing of the release of this book can’t be ignored. “Fear” is nothing but a bloated campaign pamphlet designed to help Democrats win races in the November midterm elections. The release of Woodward’s book at this important juncture on the political calendar is a well-known and outdated partisan move – it’s an attempt at distraction. The book attempts to force the American people to “look over here” and not focus on what’s actually happening. Woodward wants to distract from President Trump’s exceptional choices of Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch for the Supreme Court.  He wants to distract from the fact that President Trump’s peace-through-strength foreign policy is working. And perhaps most telling, he wants to distract from the constant flow of good economic news – including the coming jobs report. Trump to Canada: ‘We are straightening out these horrible trade deals’ “President Trump said Wednesday that he won’t back down in trade talks with Canada,” S.A. Miller reports in The Washington Times. “Look, we have a very strong position and we are the ones people want to come in and take advantage of,” the President said from the Oval Office. “We are straightening out these horrible trade deals.” At another White House event, Mr. Trump said Canada needs the deal more than the U.S. needs it. “If it doesn’t work out that is going to be fine for our country. It won’t be fine for Canada,” said Mr. Trump. The Trump administration is under pressure from Republican lawmakers and business leaders to preserve the more than $1 trillion in annual trade between the three countries under NAFTA. Canada and the U.S. exchanged more than $670 billion in goods and services in 2017, according to the U.S. Trade Representative’s office. The grueling talks are aimed at getting Canada to join a tentative U.S.-Mexico agreement to replace the 24-year-old NAFTA. Mr. Trump repeated his threat to proceed without Canada if they don’t get on board. “I love Canada. I love the people of Canada. But they and other countries have been taking advantage of the United States for many years and this is a president who has stopped it,” Mr. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “The deal is a much more fair deal between the United States and Mexico.” In Washington, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland stepped out of the high-stakes talks to say that the dialogue inside was “constructive.” “We continue to work hard,” she said. “The atmosphere continues to be constructive and positive. There is good faith and good will on both sides.” The negotiating teams face a new deadline in October when the text of the deal must be submitted to Congress. Mr. Trump notified Congress last week that he was moving ahead with a U.S.-Mexico deal to replace NAFTA, possibly without Canada. If Canada is out, Mr. Trump said he would hit them with a 25 percent tariff on cars. In the tense talks, Canada wants a guarantee that Mr. Trump won’t proceed with auto tariffs and relief from recent tariffs the U.S. slapped on steel and aluminum. The U.S. is pushing for Canada to lower high tariffs on dairy, which can run up to 270 percent, and changes to the dispute resolution mechanism in NAFTA’s Chapter 19. The U.S.-Mexico deal nixed Chapter 19 and Canada wants it back to challenge U.S. tariffs on lumber, newsprint, steel and aluminum. The Trump administration is ready to help California meet wildfire threat In The Sacramento Bee, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue write that the Trump Administration is helping California contain the recent wildfire threat. “For too long, our forest management efforts have been thwarted by lawsuits from misguided, extreme environmentalists,” the two write. “President Trump has rightly recognized that the old way was doing a disservice to our precious national forests and the communities that depend on them.” The president actively monitored the Carr Fire and other wildfires, declaring a disaster in California on Aug. 4 and ordering federal assistance to be made available to survivors who suffered losses not covered by insurance. Our two departments – the Department of Agriculture through the Forest Service, and the Department of the Interior through the Bureau of Land Management and National Park Service – have deployed thousands of personnel and tons of equipment. The Federal Emergency Management Agency approved a grant the day the Carr Fire started to help the state with firefighting costs. The Department of Homeland Security coordinated the deployment of firefighters, aircraft and logistics and communications support.

WEST WING MHI