Judge Kavanaugh doesn’t deserve better. Alaskans do.

On Aug. 19, Sens. Pete Kelly and Cathy Giessel voiced their support of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh in their jointly written op-ed. But they missed the mark altogether in saying that Kavanaugh "deserves better." It's Alaskans who do.

Criticizing Kavanaugh isn't a political maneuver meant to generate a "manufactured political victory," and it isn't just progressives who take issue with Kavanaugh's fitness for the Supreme Court. I'm not concerned with Kavanaugh's "credentials from America's finest schools." What I am concerned about is our security, our rights and our ability to live and thrive in our democracy — not just for me, but for all Alaskans and all Americans.

Among Brett Kavanaugh's many troubling positions is his hostile stance towards health care—which is precisely one of the main reasons why President Donald Trump picked him for the job. Not only did President Trump insist that he would only nominate justices who would "automatically" overturn Roe v. Wade, he also promised that his judges would dismantle the Affordable Care Act. After all, ending the ACA's protections for folks with preexisting conditions was already on Trump's agenda. Left to the mercy of big insurance companies, thousands of Alaskans and millions of Americans across the country would again face the very real threat of going broke or dying trying to get coverage.

Kavanaugh could very well help Trump make that happen — we only need to look at his judicial record to see that. After the ACA was passed in 2010, Kavanaugh dissented from a D.C. Circuit case upholding the individual mandate. He concluded that the court could not consider the merits of the lawsuit—then proceeded to sharply criticize the law anyway. He even suggested that any president succeeding Obama could simply choose not to enforce the law's provisions.

Kavanaugh's comment about ACA enforcement hints at something far more disturbing. In remarks and decisions from throughout his career, Kavanaugh has made clear that he thinks the Constitution has granted the president enormous power, so much that it places him virtually above the law.

Our nation's founders created the three branches of government and its system of checks and balances precisely to ensure that each branch can check the other two. But instead of upholding that balance, Kavanaugh would upend it. He's made clear that he believes presidents should be able to influence (or even shut down) criminal investigations into themselves and their conduct. He's also indicated that presidents should not be criminally indicted and that the special prosecutors should be selected and removable by presidents under investigation.

Kavanaugh's judicial record on health care policy and presidential power, and the effort to hide his full White House records paint a frightening picture of who Brett Kavanaugh would be on the Supreme Court. We need someone who approaches each case with an open mind, but the record makes clear that Kavanaugh would use the bench to push a partisan agenda that would harm Alaskans and our communities.

Sens. Giessel and Kelly claim that the stakes are too high for "those of us who care about our nation's Constitution and the clear roles between our different branches of government." And I agree with them on that, but Kavanaugh has only shown his willingness to thumb his nose at those ideals.

We can't expect him to protect our rights, and Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan should stand up for their constituents and reject his confirmation.

Johnny Ellis is a former state senator. He lives in Anchorage.

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