GOP’s Kennedy sends warning shot to Trump nominee Menashi
Asked about Steven Menashi’s nomination for the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Kennedy warned, “I’m not going to vote for him until I understand how he approaches legal issues.”
{mosads}”He may be Oliver Wendell Scalia but I can’t tell because he won’t answer my questions,” Kennedy said, referring to Supreme Court Justices Oliver Wendell Holmes and Antonin Scalia. “The burden of proof is on him. If someone gets mad at that, they need to call somebody who cares, because that is my job and I’m tired of them playing games.”
Kennedy warned Menashi during the hearing, as he tried to get him to weigh in on a hypothetical, that “I don’t want you dodging my questions.”
“You’re really a smart guy but I wish you would be more forthcoming. This isn’t supposed to be a game. We’re supposed to try to understand not how you’re going to rule but how you’re going to think,” he said.
When Menashi offered to answer a follow-up question, Kennedy noted that he was “out of time.”
“You took a lot of it by not answering my questions,” he said.
Graham, who chairs the committee, defended questions by Durbin, who had asked Menashi what policies he worked on. When Menashi began to say he worked on immigration, Graham interrupted to press him again.
“I think it is important that you tell us what you worked on,” Graham said.
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