NH Senators: Judge Kavanaugh Dangerous, Partisan

WASHINGTON, DC -- New Hampshire Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan voted against Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation to the Supreme Court Saturday. The Senate voted 50 to 48 to confirm Kavanaugh, the 53-year-old U.S. Court of Appeals Circuit Judge for the District of Columbia. Kavanaugh was confirmed despite allegations by high school classmate Christine Blasey Ford that he sexually assaulted her when they were teenagers. Kavanugh denied the accusations.

Shaheen and Hassan have said they believed Ford and called for further investigations into Kavanaugh.

Shaheen called Kavanaugh "dangerously out of step with the American people."

"As the highest court in the land, the justices on the Supreme Court are tasked with the enormous responsibility of interpreting and protecting the fundamental, Constitutional rights that are guaranteed to all Americans," Shaheen said in a statement. "They touch on issues that affect all of our daily lives, from the health care we receive, to the person we can marry, to the air that we breathe. These are the significant stakes we face when considering any nomination to serve on the Supreme Court."

Said Hassan, "I opposed Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination because of his record of putting corporations before people and diminishing the rights of individuals, particularly women. From gutting protections for people with pre-existing conditions, to undermining a woman’s constitutionally protected reproductive rights, and supporting an unchecked presidency – at least for Republicans – it is clear that Judge Kavanaugh has a partisan agenda that is deeply at odds with the will of the American people. Judge Kavanaugh is the antithesis of the impartial arbiter that a Supreme Court Justice must be, and the American people deserve far better."

Kavanaugh was sworn in Saturday evening as protesters gathered around the country and in front of the steps of the Supreme Court. President Trump called Kavanaugh to congratulate him, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement. Trump has called Kavanaugh a "good man."

Before the vote, about 100 anti-Kavanaugh protesters climbed the Capitol's East Steps on Saturday as the vote approached, pumping fists and waving signs, and U.S. Capitol Police officers began arresting some of them.

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Photo: Judge Brett Kavanaugh testifies to the Senate Judiciary Committee during his Supreme Court confirmation hearing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill September 27, 2018 in Washington, DC. Kavanaugh was called back to testify about claims by Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused him of sexually assaulting her during a party in 1982 when they were high school students in suburban Maryland. (Credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Feroze Dhanoa, Patch National Staff, and The Associated Press contributed to this report