Introducing Judge Brett Kavanaugh: Siding with Big Business and Big Brother

On July 9, President Donald Trump nominated Judge Brett Kavanaugh to fill the Supreme Court vacancy left by the retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy. This week, we examine some of Judge Kavanaugh’s decisions on key communications policy issues, like net neutrality, the First Amendment, and surveillance. At 53, Kavanaugh is relatively young, consistent with President Trump's desire to appoint judges who can serve on the High Court for decades. Since 2006, Kavanaugh has served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, often called the nation's second-most-powerful court. He was appointed to that post by President George W. Bush, after serving as Bush's White House staff secretary. According to Brookings Institution contributor Stuart Brotman, Kavanaugh "represents, along with Justice Elena Kagan, the strongest combination of tech savviness, administrative law expertise and depth of legal scholarship." Judge Kavanaugh has written more than 300 opinions in the 12 years he has been on the D.C. Circuit -- and some of these have direct implications for the future of communications policy.