U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan announced Thursday he’ll vote to confirm Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Sullivan said Kavanaugh is highly qualified and takes a strict view of the powers of the Environmental Protection Agency.
“The whole issue of looking at the law and the constitution as written. As written. I think that’s really important,” Sullivan told reporters after meeting with Kavanaugh for an hour in his Washington, D.C. office.
Sullivan also likes that Kavanaugh recognizes the Constitutional right of individuals to own guns.
“That’s also a really important issue in Alaska. Strong views with regard to the Second Amendment,” Sullivan said. “And he’s been a leader on that. There’s no doubt about it.”
In 2011, Kavanaugh wrote that the Second Amendment includes the right to own semi-automatic rifles.
Kavanaugh and Sullivan know each other from their days serving in the George W. Bush administration.
Sullivan’s support for the nominee wasn’t much of a surprise. But Alaska’s senior senator, Lisa Murkowski, is considered a swing vote. She hasn’t announced a position on Kavanaugh.
Liz Ruskin is the Washington, D.C., correspondent at Alaska Public Media. Reach her atlruskin@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Lizhere.
