Supreme Court hopeful Brett Kavanaugh declined to answer Wednesday whether a sitting president can be required to comply with a subpoena, a question Democrats were expected to revisit during this week’s confirmation hearings.
“As a matter of the canons of judicial independence, I can’t give you an answer on that hypothetical question,” Kavanaugh told Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Kavanaugh’s views on executive power, including whether a sitting president is required to respond to a subpoena, are expected to be a key part of his confirmation hearing, especially given the ongoing investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. During Wednesday morning’s questions, he cited previous answers from sitting Supreme Court justices who also declined to give their views on hypothetical cases.
Brett Kavanaugh declined to answer Wednesday whether a sitting president can be required to comply with a subpoena, a question Democrats were expected to revisit during this week’s confirmation hearings.