I’m spending a lot of time reviewing Judge Kavanaugh’s rulings to see if he has the temperament and wisdom—and whether he has shown the independence needed of our next #SupremeCourt Justice. Very disappointed by what I’m seeing:
He disagreed with, and wrote a dissent against, a court ruling that the punishment for entering this country illegally cannot be “forcing a child to have a baby”
His opinion would have allowed the government to use delay tactics to prevent women and girls from controlling what happens to their own body. Or, in other words, he drafted a (losing) legal argument that would have forced a child to have a baby acludc.org/sites/default/…
Though some are trying to convince Americans that Judge Kavanaugh will support precedent & hasn’t definitively ruled on #RoevWade, make no mistake: he opposes it
He delivered a speech *last year* arguing that late Justice Rehnquist’s dissenting opinion in the Roe case was right latimes.com/politics/la-na…
When the D.C. Circuit ruled in Priests for Life v. @HHSGov that the Obama Admin’s accommodation for religious employers did not violate those employers’ rights, Kavanaugh dissented, arguing that the accommodation for religious nonprofits did not go far enough
Kavanaugh would have granted more employers the ability to deny women access to no-copay birth control coverage, effectively placing a woman’s boss between her and her health care provider tinyurl.com/y8ytp7a3
In 2010, Judge Kavanaugh concluded that courts should ignore international law (like the #GenevaConventions) *and* seemed to disagree that federal law shouldn’t authorize breaches of int'l law when it comes to treatment of detainees
His argument disregards Supreme Court precedent and would enable the Executive Branch to act outside of international norms, putting our troops in greater danger overseas dccircuitbreaker.org/wp-content/upl…
Judge Kavanaugh joined a ruling that private defense contractors who abused US detainees are protected from lawsuits filed under state laws. Judge #MerrickGarland was right in his dissent to this ruling
Kavanaugh put air quality at risk for 1/2 of USA risk by blocking pollution restrictions in such an extreme way that even conservative #SCOTUS Justices reversed him in a 6-2 ruling, suggesting he'd put his own policy views ahead of the statute’s plain text cadc.uscourts.gov/internet/opini…
Judge Kavanaugh appears to be believe that it violates the Constitution to protect every American from being denied health insurance because of a pre-existing condition
There are already cases in the system that threaten to rip these critical protections away from my constituents (such as Texas v. US). I’m gravely concerned that he may hold radical beliefs about what is necessary and proper to protect the health of hard-working American families
Perhaps most troubling, after helping lead an investigation into President Clinton, he wrote that President should not be investigated—much less prosecuted—while in office. Seriously. You can read his “do as I say not as I do” article right here: minnesotalawreview.org/wp-content/upl…
That might make Donald Trump want him on the #SupremeCourt, but it doesn’t make me confident that he’ll be independent in the face of a President who is under investigation and doing whatever he can to undermine the investigation duckworth.senate.gov/news/press-rel…
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My heart is heavy today as I join countless Americans across our country in mourning the loss of one of our nation’s greatest leaders and statesmen, one of my personal heroes, @SenJohnMcCain.
Throughout his life – as a Naval Aviator, a Prisoner of War who endured years of torture, a Congressman, and a six-term Senator – John repeatedly showed how anything is possible when armed with determination, a deep sense of patriotism and an unbreakable will.
His refusal to give up in the face of adversity inspired me when I was a mission-less helicopter pilot with no legs recovering at Walter Reed. In fact, I met him there for the first time when he visited us Wounded Warriors.
This past weekend we saw 12 people lose their lives to senseless gun violence in Chicago, with more than 74 people shot. Our own streets shouldn’t be more deadly than war zones. When will enough be enough? duckworth.senate.gov/news/press-rel…
I joined @RepBobbyRush yesterday to call for the passage of the Blair Holt Firearm Licensing bill to stop the flow of guns into Illinois from neighboring states with weak firearm laws
In addition to improving gun safety, resources and job opportunities, we must do a better job of providing treatment in communities that need trauma care—not just the kind of trauma that leaves scars, but the kind that stays with you for a lifetime
There is no question that the residents of Elmwood and McBride suffered through decades of neglect, inadequate oversight and outright discrimination thesouthern.com/news/local/ach…
The findings in the Inspector General report underscore what we’ve already known – HUD and the Alexander County Housing Authority failed the people of Cairo, IL
@SenatorDurbin and I also urge the HUD Office of the Inspector General to complete its investigation into wrongdoing by Alexander County Housing Authority officials as soon as possible and make its findings public
The Trump Administration’s practice of shackling and detaining pregnant women must stop immediately. This policy puts mothers and their infants at risk while also denying these women the essential maternal care they deserve
I’m proud to join @PattyMurray & 20 Senators in calling for an end to this egregious policy. Our legislation will help ensure all women are treated humanely and set new standards for the treatment of pregnant and young women in detention duckworth.senate.gov/news/press-rel…
@PattyMurray I applaud the Illinois legislature for acting on this issue at the state level by passing a bill to keep pregnant women out of jail while awaiting trial for nonviolent offenses chicagotribune.com/news/local/bre…
It's difficult to overstate the damage done by Donald Trump’s shocking & disgraceful show of weakness on the world stage. The strong global alliances & global belief in American leadership that he has taken just days to tear down over the last wk will take generations to rebuild
This is a man who wants to work closely with our fiercest adversaries and believes our allies in the European Union are our foes, but refuses to believe the consensus of his entire intelligence community about Russian interference in the election and its continued threat
Just days after the indictments of 12 Russian military officials for their attacks on our country during the 2016 election, Trump is not only willing to let Vladimir Putin off the hook, he actually holds America responsible for allowing the attacks to happen
These indictments could not be clearer. American democracy was the target of a careful, systematic and intentional attack aimed at undermining the bedrock of our democracy: free and open elections without foreign interference
Today’s indictments and Russia’s actions transcend political party and should trouble all Americans and democracies around the world. Russia must be held accountable for their outrageous, unprecedented attacks on our nation
We must bring to bear the full force of U.S. sanctions against #Russia as well as consider their expansion against broader sectors of the Russian economy