McCaskill to oppose Kavanaugh nomination
Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill (Mo.) said on Wednesday night that she will oppose Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination.
McCaskill is one of the first of a group of undecided Democrats running for reelection in states won by President Trump to formally announce their decision on Kavanaugh.
{mosads}Her decision comes as Kavanaugh is facing questions about a decades-old sexual assault allegation.
But McCaskill said while the alleged incident is “troubling,” her decision to oppose him is based on his positions on the “avalanche of dark, anonymous money that is crushing our democracy.”
“It is his allegiance to the position that unlimited donations and dark anonymous money, from even foreign interests, should be allowed to swamp the voices of individuals that has been the determining factor in my decision to vote no on his nomination,” McCaskill said in a statement.
She added that she is also “uncomfortable about his view on Presidential power as it relates to the rule of law, and his position that corporations are people.”
McCaskill’s decision to oppose Kavanaugh comes as she’s facing a tough reelection in Missouri in November where national Republicans and her opponent, state Attorney General Josh Hawley, has tried to make the Supreme Court fight a key issue in the race.
“Will McCaskill vote to confirm Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court? McCaskill rubber stamped both of Barack Obama’s Supreme Court picks, but voted against Justice Neil Gorsuch and has signaled she will oppose Kavanaugh despite admitting he was qualified,” the National Republican Senatorial Committee said in a statement last week.
McCaskill was viewed as a likely no vote, despite her tough election, after voting against Trump’s first Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch.
She also appeared to be leaning against Kavanaugh during a Missouri Senate debate on Friday. Hawley, during the debate, said he would “absolutely vote ‘yes,'” on Kavanaugh.
Republicans aren’t expected to need McCaskill’s vote to confirm Kavanaugh.
They have a thin 51-seat majority in the Senate meaning they can lose one Republican senator before they’ll need help from Democrats to confirm Kavanaugh.
Several red-state Democrats remain on the fence — including Democratic Sens. Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.), Joe Donnelly (Ind.) and Joe Manchin (W.Va.), who each voted for Gorsuch.
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