Brett M. Kavanaugh
Associate Justice since 2018. He previously served twelve years on the D.C. Circuit and in the George W. Bush White House, and wrote influential scholarship on statutory interpretation and executive power.
- Role
- Associate Justice
- Joined the Court
- 2018 (appointed by Donald Trump)
- Martin–Quinn score
- 0.55 (latest term)
- Decisions participated in
- 413 (Spaeth, 1946–2025 span)
- Prior roles
- Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit; White House Staff Secretary; Associate Counsel, Office of Independent Counsel
How their votes have evolved, issue by issue
- Immigration: 28 votes, 21% on the liberal side.
- Free speech & press: 23 votes, 43% on the liberal side.
- Criminal procedure: 21 votes, 52% on the liberal side.
- Executive & agency power: 19 votes, 58% on the liberal side.
- Federalism: 17 votes, 41% on the liberal side.
- Voting & elections: 14 votes, 36% on the liberal side.
- Religion: 11 votes, 36% on the liberal side.
- Guns & the Second Amendment: 8 votes, 38% on the liberal side.
- Death penalty: 8 votes, 50% on the liberal side.
- Abortion & reproductive rights: 5 votes, 40% on the liberal side.
- Sexual orientation & gender identity: 4 votes, 0% on the liberal side.
- Race & affirmative action: 2 votes, 0% on the liberal side.
Before the Court
As a lower-court judge on the D.C. Circuit (2006–2018), Kavanaugh wrote 345 opinions we could find on CourtListener: 229 for the court, 49 concurring and 67 dissenting. Most often on: Executive & agency power (130), Criminal procedure (34), Free speech & press (18), Immigration (5). Selected passages appear in the “In their own words” timelines on this page.
How they question at oral argument
Over OT2023–OT2025 (2,320 substantive questions and remarks), Kavanaugh's questions most often probed consequences and hypotheticals (32%), the text (18%), precedent (16%). Themes are assigned by a language model (75% agreement with independent reference labels). Compare all nine Justices.
Public statements, writings & appearances
A curated, sourced timeline of 21 speeches, articles, interviews, and public statements — each with a summary and a link to the original source. The interactive version with filters and full-text search loads above.
- — 25 Years After 9/11: Jeanie Poole O'Shaughnessy Memorial Lecture (University of Notre Dame Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government)
Kavanaugh joined a Notre Dame panel on the 25th anniversary of September 11, alongside Rev. Edward Malloy, Jennie Bradley Lichter and James Dunne, sharing personal experiences of the day and discussing its legacy. He was associate counsel to President Bush on 9/11 and later worked on the USA PATRIOT Act.
Topics: national security, executive branch service, public service
- — Keynote conversation, 'Endowed by Their Creator: Catholicism, the Declaration of Independence, and the American Experiment at 250' (Catholic University of America (with Notre Dame's Center for Citizenship & Constitutional Government), Washington, DC)
In a conversation moderated by Prof. J. Joel Alicea, Kavanaugh linked the Declaration's grievances to constitutional separation-of-powers and judicial-independence provisions, invoked Bork, Scalia and Rehnquist on judges interpreting rather than creating rights, and said religious liberty in America 'has never been stronger.'
has never been stronger than it is right now
Topics: originalism, religious liberty, judicial role
- — Flannery Lecture joint appearance with Justice Jackson on the emergency docket (Flannery Lecture Series, E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse, Washington, DC)
Sharing a stage with Justice Jackson at the annual lecture honoring Judge Thomas Flannery, Kavanaugh defended the court's handling of emergency applications as consistent across administrations, attributing the surge to presidents who 'push the envelope' with executive orders amid congressional gridlock.
None of us enjoy this.
Topics: emergency docket, judicial role, court legitimacy
- — Antonin Scalia Memorial Dinner panel (with Justice Barrett) (Federalist Society National Lawyers Convention, Washington, DC)
At the convention's opening gala, moderated by Judge Trevor McFadden, Kavanaugh credited Scalia with teaching originalism and textualism and praised his fortitude; Barrett described judging as 'reactive' work of defending the Constitution regardless of public approval.
he taught us also what it meant to have a backbone
Topics: originalism, judicial role, judicial independence
- — Remarks at the Sixth Circuit Judicial Conference (Judicial Conference of the Sixth Circuit, The Peabody Hotel, Memphis, TN)
In a conversation moderated by Judges Andre Mathis and Joan Larsen, Kavanaugh told lower-court judges to 'keep doing what you're doing,' praised Chief Justice Roberts for 'picking his spots' in defending judicial independence, and described Supreme Court decisions as the product of nine justices seeking consensus or compromise.
The tone matters. We're modeling behavior for everyone.
Topics: judicial independence, judicial role, court legitimacy
- — Remarks at the Eighth Circuit Judicial Conference on the Emergency Docket (Eighth Circuit Judicial Conference, Kansas City, Missouri)
Kavanaugh attributed the Court's growing emergency docket to two decades of presidents of both parties governing by executive order, noted the Court's efforts to explain interim orders in writing, and praised the justices' collegiality.
Topics: emergency docket, executive orders, judicial independence, interim orders
- — Conversation at the Fifth Circuit Judicial Conference (Fifth Circuit Judicial Conference, Austin, Texas)
Kavanaugh told the conference that decisions unpopular in their time, citing Warren Court rulings such as Brown v. Board of Education, can later be accepted as part of the fabric of American constitutional law.
parts of the fabric of America, and the fabric of American constitutional law
Topics: judicial legitimacy, public opinion, warren court, precedent
- — Conversation at the Eighth Circuit Judicial Conference (Eighth Circuit Judicial Conference, Bloomington, Minnesota)
In an on-stage conversation, Kavanaugh pushed back on perceptions of a partisan Court by pointing to ideologically mixed lineups that term, described the justices' collegial routines, and deferred to the Chief Justice on ethics questions.
It's an institution of law not of politics, not of partisanship
Topics: judicial legitimacy, partisanship, collegiality, ethics
- — Remarks at Notre Dame Law School (2023 Federal Courts Symposium Keynote) (Notre Dame Law Review Federal Courts Symposium, published at 98 Notre Dame L. Rev. 1849)
In a published Q&A keynote on the APA and judicial review, Kavanaugh explained his 'footnote nine' view of Chevron — that traditional tools of construction should resolve ambiguity before any deference — and discussed his approach to administrative-law cases.
I'm a footnote-nine Chevron person.
Topics: chevron deference, administrative law, statutory interpretation, collegiality
- — Remarks at the Federalist Society National Lawyers Convention (Antonin Scalia Memorial Dinner) (Federalist Society, Union Station, Washington, D.C.)
In his first major post-confirmation speech, Kavanaugh spoke about gratitude to supporters after his confirmation fight and the collegiality of the Court, deliberately avoiding legal philosophy and pending cases.
I do not plan a deep speech about the law.
Topics: federalist society, confirmation aftermath, collegiality, judicial role
- — Testimony on Roe v. Wade as 'Settled Precedent' (Confirmation Hearing, Day 2) (U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary)
Questioned by Senator Feinstein, Kavanaugh called Roe 'settled as a precedent' entitled to respect under stare decisis and described Casey as 'precedent on precedent,' while declining to say whether Roe was correctly decided.
settled as a precedent of the Supreme Court
Topics: abortion, precedent, stare decisis, roe v wade, confirmation hearing
- — Confirmation Hearing on the Nomination of Hon. Brett M. Kavanaugh to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court (S. Hrg. 115-545) (U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary)
Multi-day testimony (September 4-7 and 27, 2018) covering precedent and stare decisis, presidential power and whether a sitting President can be subpoenaed or pardoned himself, and, on the final day, his response to sexual-assault allegations.
Topics: confirmation hearing, precedent, executive power, judicial independence, stare decisis
- — Remarks Accepting Nomination as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court (The White House, East Room)
In brief acceptance remarks, Kavanaugh described his judicial philosophy as straightforward: a judge must be independent, interpret statutes and the Constitution as written, informed by history, tradition, and precedent, and keep an open mind in every case.
A judge must be independent and must interpret the law, not make the law.
Topics: judicial independence, textualism, history and tradition, nomination
- — From the Bench: The Constitutional Statesmanship of Chief Justice William Rehnquist (Walter Berns Constitution Day Lecture) (American Enterprise Institute, Washington, D.C.)
Constitution Day lecture praising Rehnquist as his 'first judicial hero' for redirecting the law on federalism, criminal procedure, and religion, and for resisting the creation of unenumerated rights untethered from history and tradition.
the Constitution is primarily a document of majestic specificity
Topics: rehnquist, federalism, originalism, unenumerated rights, constitutional interpretation
- — Keynote Address: Two Challenges for the Judge as Umpire: Statutory Ambiguity and Constitutional Exceptions (Notre Dame Law Review (vol. 92, p. 1907), Notre Dame Law Review Symposium)
Keynote honoring Justice Scalia identifying two obstacles to neutral umpiring: the unprincipled ambiguity trigger in statutory interpretation and the amorphous balancing tests (e.g., tiers of scrutiny) used for claimed constitutional exceptions.
Topics: statutory interpretation, judicial role, constitutional tests, strict scrutiny, scalia legacy
- — Fixing Statutory Interpretation (reviewing Robert A. Katzmann, Judging Statutes) (Harvard Law Review (vol. 129, p. 2118))
Book review arguing that doctrines keyed to an initial clear-versus-ambiguous determination (constitutional avoidance, legislative history, Chevron) are unprincipled because judges cannot make the ambiguity call in an evenhanded way, and urging courts to seek the best reading of the statute instead.
The text of the law is the law.
Topics: statutory interpretation, textualism, chevron deference, ambiguity, legislative history
- — The Judge as Umpire: Ten Principles (Catholic University Law Review (vol. 65, p. 683); Pope John XXIII Lecture, Columbus School of Law)
Published lecture setting out ten principles for the judge-as-umpire ideal: judges must not be partisans, should follow settled rules and precedent, strive for day-to-day consistency, and have the fortitude to stand up to the political branches.
Topics: judicial role, judicial neutrality, precedent, rule of law
- — Our Anchor for 225 Years and Counting: The Enduring Significance of the Precise Text of the Constitution (Notre Dame Law Review (vol. 89, p. 1907))
Published lecture arguing that the precise wording of the constitutional text is the anchor of constitutional interpretation and that the document's separation-of-powers structure is itself a protection of individual liberty.
Topics: textualism, constitutional interpretation, separation of powers, individual liberty
- — Separation of Powers During the Forty-Fourth Presidency and Beyond (Minnesota Law Review (vol. 93, p. 1454))
Reflecting on his White House years, Kavanaugh proposes that Congress defer civil suits and criminal investigations or prosecutions of a sitting President until after the term, along with other structural reforms such as up-or-down votes on judicial nominees within 180 days.
Topics: executive power, presidential immunity, separation of powers, judicial nominations, war powers
- — Confirmation Hearing on the Nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to be Circuit Judge for the District of Columbia Circuit (S. Hrg. 109-435) (U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary)
Testimony at his May 9, 2006 D.C. Circuit confirmation hearing, where he answered questions about his White House staff-secretary role, detainee policy, and committed to follow Supreme Court precedent, including Roe, as binding on a lower-court judge.
Topics: confirmation hearing, precedent, judicial independence, executive branch service
- — The President and the Independent Counsel (Georgetown Law Journal (vol. 86, p. 2133))
Drawing on his service in the Whitewater Independent Counsel office, Kavanaugh argues that Justice Department investigation of high executive officials poses inherent conflicts of interest, and proposes reforms to the special-counsel system, including congressional clarification of whether a sitting President can be indicted.
poses an actual conflict of interest, as well as the appearance thereof
Topics: executive power, independent counsel, special counsel, executive privilege, presidential investigations