U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) announced Thursday that she will vote against the appointment of D.C. Appeals Court Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Baldwin defended her decision by citing her defense of Obamacare.
“At a time when so many in Washington are working to overturn the law of the land that helps provide affordable health care for 133 million Americans with preexisting conditions, including more than two million Wisconsinites, we cannot afford a nominee who could serve as the deciding vote to take us back to the days when powerful insurance companies wrote the rules,” Baldwin said.
Insurance companies actually worked with the Obama Administration and Democrats in Congress to write the Obamacare law. They are now suing the federal government because of promises made by the Obama Administration to cover their losses once it was mandated that every American had to buy health insurance. Congress never appropriated the funds for the promised Obamacare bailout of insurance companies.
Baldwin also complained about “special interests” allegedly picking Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court vacancy.
“After reviewing this nominee’s record, I know why powerful special interests in Washington selected Judge Brett Kavanaugh to work on the Supreme Court for them, not the people of Wisconsin,” Baldwin said.
Baldwin’s statement came on the same day she announced raising $4.4 million in the second quarter. According to OpenSecrets, nearly 58 percent of Baldwin’s contributions are from outside Wisconsin as of the first quarter of the 2018 election cycle.
State Sen. Leah Vukmir (R-Brookfield), one of two Republicans running in the GOP Senate primary, quickly criticized Baldwin for her opposition to Kavanaugh’s nomination.
“Sen. Baldwin’s obstruction on Judge Kavanaugh’s appointment is proof that she’d rather stand with her liberal activist San Francisco donors than uphold the Constitution,” Vukmir said. “When Wisconsin voters elected President Trump, they knew he’d choose judges who would uphold the Constitution. Sen. Baldwin’s ‘no’ vote will directly contradict the will of the people. Kavanaugh is an extremely well-qualified nominee who deserves our support.”
Kevin Nicholson, the other Republican running for U.S. Senate, also sharply criticized Baldwin for her decision.
“It is no surprise that a liberal obstructionist like Tammy Baldwin has announced she will vote against the confirmation of President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh,” Nicholson said. “This is just one of many reasons why we need to defeat Baldwin and increase the Republican majority in the United States Senate. Kevin Nicholson is endorsed by Senators Ted Cruz and Mike Lee because he will fight for Brett Kavanaugh and other Constitutional originalist nominees like him.”
Nicholson and Vukmir will face each other in the August 14 primary. The winner will face Baldwin in November. The vote on Kavanaugh is expected to occur before the November election.
In her statement, Baldwin made it clear that she would have opposed President Donald Trump’s pick for the Supreme Court, regardless of who it was, because Trump does not share Baldwin’s extreme views on abortion on demand and Obamacare birth control mandates.
“The President vowed to appoint judges to the Supreme Court who would overturn Roe v. Wade,” Baldwin said. “And I cannot support a nominee for a lifetime appointment who would turn back the clock on a woman’s constitutional right and freedom to make her own health care choices, including access to birth control.”
Ironically, Baldwin said, “The people of Wisconsin need a fair, impartial and independent Supreme Court Justice who will stand up for them, not for powerful special interests,” after ticking off public policy positions, supported by leftwing special interests, as reasons to oppose Kavanaugh.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee said it wasn’t surprising that Baldwin avoided press questions on the nomination earlier this week.
“Tammy Baldwin’s vow to obstruct Judge Kavanaugh shows that she’d rather stand with her Washington party bosses than do her job to defend the Constitution,” said NRSC Spokesman Calvin Moore. “Wisconsin can see through Tammy Baldwin’s partisan games and know that, even when it matters most, she’ll choose Washington over Wisconsin — every single time.”
