At Kavanaugh hearings, questions of how much power a president should hold

In a life spent circling Capitol Hill, Judge Brett Kavanaugh has made a rare foray to the very top.

Born and raised in the D.C. area, Judge Kavanaugh’s legal career has unfolded at the highest levels of the judicial and executive branches, from the chambers of the United States Supreme Court to the halls of the White House. Those experiences have informed much of his thinking in his 12 years on the US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, he has said. Critics, legal scholars, and Democratic senators agree, saying those experiences have cultivated an unusually strong view of executive power.

Now a nominee to the high court himself, and facing questions this week from the Senate Judiciary Committee, those views on presidential power will be closely scrutinized.

Kavanaugh’s experience in the executive branch almost equals his time in the judiciary, including positions in the administrations of George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, as well as part of Kenneth Starr’s

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