Bending the Third Rail
Because We Should, We Can, We Do
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Nuculur Option Watch
From Froomkin:
Emma Schwartz writes for the Legal Times that Senate Democrats are girding for a knock-down, drag-out fight over White House staff secretary Brett M. Kavanaugh's nomination as a D.C. Circuit Court judge.

Kavanaugh was first nominated in 2003, but blocked by Democrats. Bush renominated him in January.

Kavanaugh, who is married to Bush's former personal secretary, is responsible for every piece of paper that lands on Bush's desk. But that's not why Democrats hate him so.

As Schwartz writes: "Kavanaugh's conservative credentials are etched indelibly into his résumé. In fact, he's something of the Zelig of young Republican lawyers. A protégé of independent counsel Kenneth Starr, he was a key figure in the Whitewater investigation."

He also co-wrote the Starr Report on the Monica Lewinsky affair.

Schwartz continues: "In the recount fight after the 2000 election, he served as a foot soldier in the legal army that descended on Florida and gave Bush his presidency. As a lawyer for Bush in the White House counsel's office, he shepherded most of the administration's contentious federal court nominees."
I predict that this fight will be a non-fight unless the Democrats are truly ready to test the "nuculur option". If they don't, and if Kavanaugh is ultimately confirmed, the Dems will reinforce their "balless" image and greatly weaken the Congressional advise and consent responsibility.
Written at 9:38 AM by Greyhair.
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