Declaration of independence

WASHINGTON—Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee have pressed Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh during his confirmation hearing to tip his hand on hot-button issues such as abortion, religious liberty, and presidential power, but Kavanaugh has mostly kept a strong poker face.

The nominee has insisted he is “pro-law,” committed to judicial independence, and has a deep respect for the Constitution. His steady answers contrasted with raucous protests in the room. U.S. Capitol Police arrested more than 70 protesters the first day. The intense interruptions on Tuesday caused Kavanaugh’s daughters, ages 13 and 10, to be quickly escorted from the room.

After questioning began Wednesday, Democratic senators grilled Kavanaugh on whether Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion, was “settled law.” Kavanaugh called the case “an important precedent of the Supreme Court” but did not say whether he believed it was correctly decided.

Senators on both sides of the aisle asked Kavanaugh about his 300-plus opinions, particularly his dissenting opinions in a case involving an illegal immigrant minor wanting an abortion and another in which he argued against a semi-automatic rifle ban. He stood by both.

Kavanaugh continually emphasized the importance of following Supreme Court precedent. He spoke strongly against judges who practice judicial activism, following their personal preferences over the law. When pressed by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., on whether that included Roe, Kavanaugh said, “I don’t get to pick and choose what Supreme Court precedent I follow. I follow them all.” He did acknowledge that the high court occasionally reverses previous rulings and called the 1954 decision to end segregation in Brown v. Board of Education “the single greatest moment in Supreme Court history.”

Sen. Dick Blumenthal, D-Conn., asked if Kavanaugh would recuse himself if the president came before him in a civil or criminal case. Kavanaugh said he could not commit himself in advance, saying judges have to be independent.

During questioning from Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Kavanaugh briefly touched on religious liberty: “No matter what God you worship, or if you worship no God at all, you are protected equally. … The religious tradition reflected in the First Amendment is a foundational part of American liberty. It’s important for us as judges to recognize that.”

Kelly Shackelford, CEO of First Liberty, told me he believes if Kavanaugh is is confirmed, the Supreme Court will send more decisions back to the states and lawmakers rather than flexing its muscles along conservative lines. “Five people who know their job isn’t to be politicians but simply to interpret the law means … power will devolve from Supreme Court back to people,” he said.

Support for Kavanaugh likely will extend across the aisle by a hair’s breadth. A recent poll shows incumbent Democratic senators facing reelection are under pressure in red states to confirm the judge. They include Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, and Joe Donnelly of Indiana, all of whom voted for the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch.

Votes in committee and on the Senate floor for Kavanaugh’s confirmation will likely occur later this month.

Truth or fiction?

President Donald Trump is dismissing an upcoming book by journalist Bob Woodward as a work of fiction, as Trump’s administration pushes back against the portrayal of a White House in disarray with aides actively seeking to thwart the president.

Top officials have issued statements distancing themselves from remarks in the book, Fear: Trump in the White House, and Trump suggested a change in libel laws to allow legal recourse against the negative picture of his presidency painted by a string of recent books.

“Isn’t it a shame that someone can write an article or book, totally make up stories and form a picture of a person that is literally the exact opposite of the fact, and get away with it without retribution or cost,” the president wrote on Twitter, a day after excerpts of Woodward’s book were released. “Don’t know why Washington politicians don’t change libel laws?”

An overview published by The Washington Post, where Woodward is an editor, describes aides as being appalled by Trump’s grasp of world affairs, speaking derisively of the president, and removing documents from his desk to prevent him from taking action. An opinion column published Wednesday in The New York Times by an anonymous administration official also says aides are working to prevent the president from taking actions they believe would be detrimental to the country.

Woodward describes the staff as engaging in an “administrative coup d’etat.”

Defense Secretary James Mattis and White House chief of staff John Kelly, who are both quoted as contemptuous of the president, denied making remarks mentioned in the book.

“The idea I ever called the president an idiot is not true,” Kelly said in a statement.

Woodward is best known for his coverage of the Watergate scandal that ultimately led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon in 1974. Ari Fleisher, a press secretary for President George W. Bush, noted that he’d “been on the receiving end” of Woodward’s reporting before.

“There were quotes in it I didn't like,” Fleisher said. “But never once—never—did I think Woodward made it up.”

Current White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders claimed the book consists of “fabricated stories” from “former disgruntled employees, told to make the president look bad.”

Trump pointed to statements by Mattis and Kelly and declared, “The book means nothing. It's a work of fiction.”

The Woodward book and the New York Times op-ed likely will fuel claims of a so-called “deep state” of bureaucrats seeking to undermine the president.

“I’m draining the Swamp, and the Swamp is trying to fight back,” Trump tweeted. “Don’t worry, we will win!” —Anne K. Walters

What evangelical board?

Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU) last week demanded the White House shut down the Evangelical Advisory Board that convened during Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. The AU argues that meetings of the board violate federal open meetings law.

“It is clear the President’s Evangelical Advisory Board is doing substantive work with the Trump Administration behind closed doors—without any sunlight for the public to understand how and why decisions are made,” a letter to the administration said.

But Johnnie Moore, a former Liberty University chaplain and the spokesman for the advisory group, said the board no longer exists. Moore, who was copied on the AU letter, said the group disbanded after the 2016 campaign, but some journalists “[carried] over language used in the campaign into coverage of the administration.”

Twenty-six pastors, televangelists, and others sat on the board. Though evangelicals have continued to meet with White House officials, Moore said it is not in an official capacity and not everyone is associated with the original 2016 advisory board.

In 1972, Congress enacted the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) to regulate advisory committees seeking to influence federal policy decisions. FACA requires advisory boards to open meetings to the public, advertise meetings in advance, and make meeting documents available. Advisory committees must also file a charter. “No such charter has been filed for the Advisory Board,” AU’s letter said.

AU demanded the board cease meeting with the president until it complies with FACA. The letter followed an Aug. 27 dinner Trump hosted at the White House for 100 evangelical leaders who gathered to celebrate some of the administration’s accomplishments. The president took the opportunity to work to mobilize the evangelical voting bloc for midterm elections. —H.P.

A grief observed

The family of slain University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts implored politicians last week not to turn her into a mascot for President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda. Tibbetts was abducted and killed while she was out for an evening run in Brooklyn, Iowa, on July 18. The man charged in her death, 24-year-old Cristhian Bahena Rivera, is a Mexican farmworker who is suspected of being in the U.S. illegally. Sources told the Associated Press this week that Rivera used the alias “John Budd” to get work at Yarrabee Farms.

After Rivera’s arrest, Trump and others cited Tibbetts’ death as an example of why immigration reform is needed. The president referenced the killing and arrest at an Aug. 21 rally in Charleston, W.Va. “You heard about today with the illegal alien coming in, very sadly, from Mexico and you saw what happened to that incredible, beautiful young woman,” he said. “The immigration laws are such a disgrace, we’re getting them changed, but we have to get more Republicans.” Iowa’s Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds blasted a system that “allowed a predator like this to live in our community,” and the state’s two Republican U.S. senators, Joni Ernst and Chuck Grassley, called the death a tragedy that “could have been prevented.”

In an opinion column in The Des Moines Register Saturday, Rob Tibbetts, Mollie’s father, told immigration reform advocates to stop talking about his daughter.

“Do not appropriate Mollie’s soul in advancing views she believed were profoundly racist,” he wrote. "The act grievously extends the crime that stole Mollie from our family.” —Lynde Langdon

War of words

When a protester disrupted Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s testimony before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Wednesday, Rep. Billy Long, R-Mo., staged a demonstration of his own. Long, a former auctioneer, drowned out the protester by bid calling until a U.S. Capitol Police officers escorted her from the room (see clip below). —L.L