The Senate should swiftly confirm President Trump’s nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court, and with a broad, bipartisan majority.

Judge Kavanaugh is one of our nation’s most brilliant and respected jurists. A graduate of Yale College and Yale Law School, he clerked for the Supreme Court Justice he is nominated to replace, Anthony Kennedy. He worked in private practice and as a senior White House official. During his 12 years on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals – considered the “second highest court in the land” – he has written opinions that later became Supreme Court precedent. His tenure on the bench has been marked by faithfulness to the Constitution and bold judicial leadership.

As a Mainer who is deeply involved in our state’s many religious organizations, I am especially pleased by Judge Kavanaugh’s commitment to religious liberty. He ruled that priests may be exempted from Obamacare’s contraception mandate. He defended our traditional presidential oath of office from an attack by atheists offended by the words “so help me, God.” He chaired the Federalist Society’s
Religious Liberty Practice Group and took on religious liberty cases pro bono.

Since Kavanaugh is an extremely well qualified and fair-minded judge, I am confident that Senator Collins will support his nomination. I urge Senator King to do the same.

Lindy Howe
Raymond