John Kennedy (R - LA) Definitely Yes

Tweet

 

Contact Senator Kennedy
☎️ 202-224-4623
✉️ https://www.kennedy.senate.gov/content/contact-senator
Tweet to @SenJohnKennedy

11 Statements
(Statements last updated October 6, 2018 04:02 PM -04:00.)

October 6: Voted Yes (The New York Times)

October 4: "You were surprised, why? I think the Democratic strategy is clear. Stall and re-stall...this is smashmouth raw politics," @SenJohnKennedy says. "This is the first time I've really seen the dark side of this place. It's not pretty." (Twitter)

October 2: Sen. John Neely Kennedy (R-La.) said he was still a yes on Kavanaugh but left open the tiniest of chances that the FBI’s findings could change his mind. “My plan is to vote for Judge Kavanaugh, I said that last week, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to see the results of the FBI report,” he said — refusing to guess whether the results would sway him. (The Washington Post)

October 2: “I think there are some Democrats in good faith . . . ” Kennedy, the junior senator from Louisiana, told Carlson from an echo-filled stairwell corridor of the Senate. But. “But I think [for] some of their colleagues, it isn’t about searching for the truth,” he continued. “It’s about winning. Just win, baby, win.”...“These are people — I’m not gonna name names — but I’m not sure they have a soul,” Kennedy said. “I don’t think their mother breast-fed them.” (The Washington Post)

October 1: “If you think this is about searching for the truth, you ought to put down the bong,” the lawmaker told host Martha MacCallum. “This is not about the truth. This is about gamesmanship and power, political politics.” (The Washington Post)

September 28: Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy said Friday he will vote to confirm Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, saying he believes the judge's denials of sexual assault allegations laid out in a committee hearing a day earlier...Kennedy said he was "reluctant" to agree to the delay but had his hand forced after other senators joined Flake in calling for an investigation, leaving Kavanaugh short of the votes necessary for confirmation..."She didn't convince me — nor does the record — that Brett Kavanaugh was involved," Kennedy said later Friday. Kennedy told reporters he'd asked Kavanaugh "to look me in the eye" and deny Ford's accusations during Thursday's hearing. "He did and I believe him," Kennedy said. The senator reiterated his support for Kavanaugh after striking the agreement for an FBI investigation — telling reporters "I will vote yes" — before later adding that his backing is also "subject to any additional information the FBI produces." (The Acadiana Advocate)

September 18: Kennedy, who earlier this month said he’d vote “happily and proudly” to confirm Kavanaugh, said he now needs to hear from Ford directly before moving forward. Kennedy said Kavanaugh, 53, rejected Ford's allegations when Kennedy spoke to him by phone on Tuesday. Kavanaugh has vehemently denied the accusation and said in a statement Monday that he wanted to "refute this false allegation, from 36 years ago, and defend my integrity." “I need to hear from Ford, what happened, what does she remember. I’ve got to hear from her,” Kennedy said. The senator wouldn’t say whether he’d consider Kavanaugh unfit for the Supreme Court if he becomes convinced Ford’s allegations are true. Republicans are “going to get somebody on the Supreme Court, and I think it’s going to be Judge Kavanaugh, but I want to be fair to everybody and we’re not even close to being there yet,” Kennedy said Tuesday afternoon. “I think Professor Ford’s going to come Monday and we’ll have a full hearing, hopefully publicly.”...“I’m not preparing for this (hearing) like I would prepare for a normal confirmation hearing where I prepare questions ahead of time,” Kennedy said of Ford's and Kavanaugh’s potential appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee. “I want to hear first-hand the story and the rebuttal. I don’t want this to turn into a court of law or a cross-examination — I want to allow Dr. Ford the opportunity to tell her side of all of this.” (The Advocate)

September 16: Just hours before Ford went public, Sen. John N. Kennedy (R-La.) of the Senate Judiciary Committee predicted Kavanaugh will win narrow confirmation. “They’ve had this stuff for three months; if they were serious about it, they should have told us about it,” Kennedy said on “Fox News Sunday.” “I think every Republican will vote for Judge Kavanaugh. I think at least two, and maybe more, Democrats will” vote for him. (Politico)

September 7: Kennedy said Friday that he’d read all of Kavanaugh’s law review articles, read hundreds of opinions and heard enough from Kavanaugh to endorse him. “There’s no question in my mind that he has the intellect to be a Supreme Court justice,” Kennedy said. “He’s breathtakingly smart. I don’t know that I’ve seen anybody with a better command of the law.” (The Advocate)

July 12: I like what I see with Judge Kavanaugh. I don't know him well yet. I sit on Judiciary, and it's our job to examine his qualifications and I intend to do my job. I want the same thing for this Supreme Court position as I wanted for the one filled by Justice Gorsuch. I want a cross between Socrates and Dirty Harry. I want a person who is wise, who is open-minded, not afraid to test his assumptions against the arguments of his critics, but I also want somebody who has some self-awareness and has the courage of his convictions. I have lots of questions for Judge Kavanaugh, both about the law and his philosophy of the law. I'd like to know a little bit more about him personally. I'm looking for a judge, I'm not looking for an activist who's going to try and rewrite the Constitution every other Thursday. I want somebody who will follow the law and call the balls and strikes...Let me say it again--I like what I see. I really like what I see. Clearly, Judge Kavanaugh has a brilliant legal mind. But I just want to be sure. This is one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful, unelected positions--it's for life--in the most powerful and important country in human history, America. I want to get this one right. I think he's a good one--it looks like it--but I just want to be sure. It's my job. (710 KEEL)

July 9: Judge Kavanaugh is obviously well-educated and has an impressive resume, but I look forward to getting to know him better throughout the confirmation process. I want someone who’s smart, intellectually curious and willing to test their assumptions against the arguments of those who disagree with them. During the Senate Judiciary hearings, I plan to delve into how he interprets a statute and how he would interpret the Constitution when it’s not clear. I want to understand how he thinks the judiciary fits in the Madisonian balance of separation of powers. I want to know if he respects the Bill of Rights and understands why we have a Bill of Rights. You really can’t tell whether that standard can be reached until you have a confirmation hearing. That’s why I look forward to a full and fair vetting process. (senate.gov)

 

Back to main page