The Atlantic

Brett Kavanaugh Is the Antidote to Corporate America's Worries About Trump

The Supreme Court nominee has demonstrated an unequivocal skepticism about federal regulation of corporations.
Source: Chip Somodevilla / Getty

For all the uncertainty about Brett Kavanaugh’s views on abortion, the real key to his legal—and political—impact on the Supreme Court could eventually be his demonstrated resistance to the federal regulation of business.

Kavanaugh’s repeated votes as an appellate-court judge to overturn federal regulatory actions point toward a Court even more adamantly tilted than it is today against environmental, consumer-protection, and financial-reform rules.

That shift could trigger interlocked political consequences that unfold for years. From one direction, it could help the GOP answer one of the most delicate questions of the Donald Trump era:

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