What Happened to Brett Michael Kavanaugh?

Brett Michael Kavanaugh, born February 12, 1965, in Washington, D.C., has had a distinguished and often controversial career in American law and politics. After graduating from Yale College and Yale Law School, he began his legal career with several prestigious clerkships, including for Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, whom he would later succeed. He served in the Office of Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr, contributing to the Starr Report on President Bill Clinton, and later held various roles in the George W. Bush administration, including Assistant to the President and Staff Secretary.

In 2006, President Bush nominated Kavanaugh to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, where he served for twelve years, establishing a conservative judicial record. His judicial philosophy is characterized by textualism and originalism, emphasizing interpretation of the law and Constitution as written, and advocating for judicial restraint.

Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court by President Donald Trump in July 2018 became one of the most contentious in U.S. history. The confirmation hearings were dominated by allegations of sexual misconduct from his high school and college years, most notably from Christine Blasey Ford. Kavanaugh vehemently denied these accusations, calling them a 'calculated and orchestrated political hit.' Following a supplemental FBI investigation and highly partisan debates, the Senate confirmed him by a narrow 50-48 vote on October 6, 2018.

Since joining the Supreme Court, Kavanaugh has been a key member of its conservative majority. He has been described as a 'median Justice' in some analyses, reflecting the Court's conservative dominance. He notably voted with the majority in June 2022 to overturn Roe v. Wade in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. In June 2022, he was also the target of an assassination plot, which the suspect hoped would disrupt rulings in Dobbs and Bruen.

As of early 2026, Kavanaugh continues to actively shape the Court's jurisprudence. In February 2026, he dissented in a significant 6-3 ruling that struck down President Trump's sweeping tariffs, arguing that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) could authorize such actions and warning of potential 'serious practical consequences' and billions in refunds. Most recently, on March 9, 2026, Justice Kavanaugh engaged in a public debate with Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, where they discussed the Supreme Court's increasing use of emergency orders, often referred to as the 'shadow docket,' particularly concerning policies enacted by the Trump administration. Kavanaugh defended the Court's actions, attributing the rise in emergency cases to a more aggressive executive branch and the difficulty of passing legislation through Congress.