The United States Constitution vests in the Senate the “advice and consent” power to prevent the President from appointing “unfit characters from State prejudice, from family connection, from personal attachment, or from a view to popularity,” as Alexander Hamilton wrote in Federalist No. 76.
Never was this power intended to give Senators the opportunity to engage in cheap and baseless character assassination of highly qualified nominees, which is exactly what Senator Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) appears to be preparing for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Specifically, Hirono has stated that she will question Kavanaugh regarding the alleged sexual misconduct of former Ninth Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski, for whom Kavanaugh clerked over a quarter century ago. Hirono wrote in an email, “Alex Kozinski’s relationship with Judge Kavanaugh is a legitimate area of inquiry and I plan to question Judge Kavanaugh on this topic.” She also intends to baselessly ask him whether he has ever sexually harassed women, as she does all nominees.
While Senator Hirono is concerned with creating a spectacle at the hearing next week, here are the facts:
Judge Kavanaugh has a sterling record of hiring, promoting, and mentoring women.
Every single one of these highly accomplished women who is not precluded from doing so by her current employer has endorsed Kavanaugh’s candidacy for the Supreme Court, describing him as “oneof the strongest advocates in the federal judiciary for women lawyers.”