Claire McCaskill will do what Republicans would not — consider a Supreme Court nominee

Sen. Claire McCaskill is scheduled to meet Tuesday with Brett Kavanaugh, who has been nominated for a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court.

All Missourians should applaud the meeting. Every nominee for the nation’s highest court deserves a hearing.

Of course, it’s darkly hilarious that Republicans, including McCaskill’s Senate opponent Josh Hawley, pressured her to meet with Kavanaugh. Two years ago, Sen. Roy Blunt refused to meet with Merrick Garland, President Barack Obama’s pick for the court. Blunt said then he would oppose Garland no matter what the facts were.

The Senate never held a hearing on Garland. Never took a vote. The stain on the Senate from that exercise of brute political power will last for decades.

McCaskill would have been firmly within her rights to invoke the Blunt Rule and dismiss Kavanaugh out of hand. Instead, to her credit, it appears she will give the nomination the attention it deserves.

That attention should include an examination of the full record. In a memo written in 1998 and published Monday by The Washington Post, Kavanaugh — a member of the prosecution team that investigated President Bill Clinton — set a high bar for presidential behavior.

“He has lied to his aides. He has lied to the American people,” Kavanaugh wrote, referring to Clinton. “He should be forced to account for all of that and to defend his actions.”

The Senate should ask Kavanaugh if he thinks that standard applies to the current occupant of the White House.

We hold out little hope, though, that the Republican majority in the Senate will insist on a complete examination of Kavanaugh’s record. Republicans intend to ram the nomination through, before Election Day.

In the meantime, Missourians should disregard GOP claims that Kavanaugh “will interpret the Constitution, not make law” or that he won’t be an activist judge.

All Supreme Court Justices — left, right, center — “make law.” Just a few weeks ago, a conservative majority threw out 40 years of precedent to say public employees can’t be required to pay dues to a union.

“The majority’s road runs long,” Justice Elena Kagan wrote in her dissent. “And at every stop are black-robed rulers overriding citizens’ choices.”

If Kavanaugh is confirmed, Americans can expect similar decisions.

As important as the Kavanaugh nomination is, Missourians should remember that it is not the only issue in the McCaskill-Hawley race. On Monday, Hawley wrote a column on health care for The Springfield News-Leader that was full of misdirection and misinformation. Voters should insist on a detailed, accurate discussion of important issues such as health insurance, taxes and immigration reform — not just the Supreme Court.

We hope Sen. McCaskill learns something from her meeting with Judge Kavanaugh. Then voters can go back to deciding who will represent Missouri’s interests in Washington.

This story was originally published August 20, 2018 at 3:48 PM.