5 Questions for Heller to Ask Kavanaugh

CARSON CITY, Nevada, July 19 -- The Nevada Democratic Party issued the following news release:

Sen. Dean Heller is scheduled to meet with President Trump's Supreme Court nominee today in Washington. Sen. Heller has been a rubber stamp for President Trump's Cabinet and judicial nominees and has already indicated he likes what he sees in Judge Brett Kavanaugh. Given Judge Kavanaugh's troubling record on key issues, it's crucial that Sen. Heller have the backbone to ask him the tough questions that matter to regular Nevadans.

Here are five questions Sen. Heller must ask Judge Kavanaugh in their meeting:

1. Will you uphold Roe v. Wade and protect individual liberties - including reproductive rights?

Given President Trump's campaign promise to only nominate anti-choice judges who would overturn Roe v. Wade and Judge Kavanaugh's own demonstrated hostility against the ruling, Nevadans need to know whether this Supreme Court nominee will threaten their reproductive rights.

2. Do you agree with the Trump Administration's legal argument that coverage protections for pre-existing conditions are "unconstitutional"?

Judge Kavanaugh has argued against the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act in the past. Approximately 25% of Nevadans below the age of 65 have a pre-existing condition, and efforts to invalidate the ACA could be devastating for our health care.

3. Do you think the Special Counsel should be protected from being fired without cause?

Judge Kavanaugh has previously expressed skepticism over whether a sitting president can be indicted and said he would "put the final nail" in a Supreme Court ruling that upheld the law authorizing an independent counsel. Given the President's attacks on the Mueller investigation, this is a critical issue.

4. Do you support the Citizens United ruling that opened the floodgates for dark money to influence our elections?

Our campaign finance system is broken, drowning out the voices of regular Nevadans. Since the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling, a flood of dark money has severely damaged our democracy and undermined transparency in our elections.

5. Do you stand by your pro-Yucca Mountain ruling from 2013?

Judge Kavanaugh ruled in 2013 ordering the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to consider an application to store nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain and wrote that the NRC was "flouting the law" by refusing to consider the plan. Given the Trump Administration's continued efforts to revive Yucca Mountain and the high potential for future legal battles over the site, Nevadans deserve an answer.