Bush Renominates Judge Previously Blocked

The White House "flexed its judicial muscles yesterday," renominating Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit even as the Senate nears a vote on its divisive Supreme Court nominee, Samuel Alito. Kavanaugh, the White House staff secretary, was first nominated in July 2003, but his nomination failed as part of a deal struck by the "Gang of 14" moderate senators. Several criticisms of Kavanaugh mirror those leveled at President Bush’s failed Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers: Kavanaugh has limited courtroom experience; has personally "coordinated" the administration’s controversial and unsuccessful nominations of radical nominees Priscilla Owen and Miguel Estrada; and has demonstrated a history of twisting legal theories and philosophies "to best serve partisan interests," as typified by his co-authorship of the Starr report.