This past week, the hearings for the possible future Supreme Court Justice, Brett Kavanaugh, took place in Washington D.C. Kavanaugh went through the four day hearing, the first two days consisting of opening statements from the Senate Judiciary Committee and Kavanaugh, the last two days filled with questioning from the Committee for the candidate. With this important time in United States politics, it is important for us, the upcoming generation, to understand and have an opinion on what is going on! In order to do so we have to know a thing or two about this subject. So, who is Brett Kavanaugh? Why is Kavanaugh’s nomination important? How could he affect the Supreme Court?

Who is Brett Kavanaugh?

Brett Kavanaugh, 53, grew up in Washington DC and currently lives in Maryland with his wife and two daughters. He graduated from the Yale School of Law, where other Justices such as Sonia Sotomayor and Clarence Thomas graduated from. Much of Kavanaugh’s career has been in government positions with Presidents, making him familiar with the role he might undertake as a Justice. Before this nomination, he served for four years to the independent counsel Kenneth Starr as an assistant in the investigations during the Clinton administration. He also served five years in the George W. Bush administration in two positions through those years, as an associate council and as staff secretary. He was Bush’s nomination to the D.C Court of Appeals, where he was involved with around 300 opinions of the court. Kavanaugh has been considered more conservative over the years with his opinions in the court.

Why is his Kavanaugh’s nomination important?

The reason that Trump’s nomination of Kavanaugh is important to the Supreme Court is because usually when a Justice is getting replaced, the President will replace that justice with a person of the same political party. The Justice who Kavanaugh is hoping to replace, Justice Kennedy, has been referred to as a “pivotal justice”- one who leans both ways politically in decisions. Kavanaugh has been historically conservative. Because of his political party, his presence in the Supreme Court would possibly sway the court’s decisions to be more conservative.

How could he affect the Supreme Court?

On important political topics such as Roe v. Wade, the Second Amendment, and net neutrality, Kavanaugh could affect the Court by voting for changes with these subjects. Regarding Roe v Wade, Kavanaugh has said in interviews and questioning that he believes the case to be “settled law”, also stating that it has been settled by the Court, so it must be upheld. On the Second Amendment, he has stated that the banning of guns in Washington D.C is unconstitutional, and that the right to bear arms is everyone’s right. On the DC Circuit he had disagreed with the uphold of the ban of semi-automatic rifles in Washington. With the newly important topic of Net Neutrality, Kavanaugh he has discussed how the Obama-era rulings about net neutrality went against the First Amendment and encouraged change.