Major Controversies Surrounding Brett Kavanaugh: A Detailed Timeline

Public opinion and media debates around Brett Kavanaugh—discover key moments of controversy.

Brett Kavanaugh is an American lawyer and jurist, currently serving as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Nominated by President Donald Trump, he assumed the role on October 6, 2018. Prior to his Supreme Court appointment, Kavanaugh served as a U.S. circuit judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, a position he held from 2006 to 2018.

Sections (5)

Full Timeline Early Life & Education Career & Achievements Challenges & Struggles Controversies & Scandals

1981: Swetnick's Allegations

Julie Swetnick described attending parties between 1981-1983 where Mark Judge and Brett Kavanaugh were present. She described witnessing efforts by Mark Judge and Brett Kavanaugh to cause girls to become inebriated so they could be gang raped.

1983: Alleged Incident with Deborah Ramirez

In 1983, Deborah Ramirez alleged that Kavanaugh exposed himself to her and thrust his penis against her face after they had both been drinking at a college party during the 1983–84 academic year.

1983: Swetnick's Allegations

September 1998: Release of the Starr Report

In September 1998, the Starr Report, principally authored by Kavanaugh, on the Bill Clinton–Monica Lewinsky sex scandal was released, arguing for Clinton's impeachment.

2003: Kavanaugh's Email on Roe v. Wade

In 2003, Brett Kavanaugh stated in an email that he was unsure if all legal scholars referred to Roe v. Wade as settled law at the Supreme Court level, as the Court could always overrule its precedent. He clarified that he was commenting on the views of legal scholars at the time, not his own, and acknowledged the case had been reaffirmed since 2003.

July 2007: Accusations of Lying to Judiciary Committee

In July 2007, senators Patrick Leahy and Dick Durbin accused Kavanaugh of lying to the Judiciary Committee when he denied being involved in formulating the Bush administration's detention and interrogation policies.

2007: Kavanaugh Dissent in ExxonMobil Human Rights Case

In 2007, in Doe v. Exxon Mobil Corp., Kavanaugh dissented when the circuit court allowed a lawsuit making accusations of ExxonMobil human rights violations in Indonesia to proceed, arguing that the claims were not justiciable. He dissented again when the circuit court later found that the corporation could be sued under the Alien Tort Statute of 1789.

November 2010: Kavanaugh Dissent on GPS Tracking

In November 2010, Kavanaugh dissented from the denial of rehearing en banc after the circuit found that attaching a Global Positioning System tracking device to a vehicle violated the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

October 2011: Kavanaugh Dissent on Semi-Automatic Rifle Ban

In October 2011, Kavanaugh dissented when the circuit court found that a ban on the sale of semi-automatic rifles was permissible under the Second Amendment.

April 2014: Kavanaugh Dissent in SeaWorld Case

In April 2014, Kavanaugh dissented when the court found that Labor Secretary Tom Perez could issue workplace safety citations against SeaWorld regarding the multiple killings of its workers by Tilikum, an orca.

2014: Supreme Court Reverses Kavanaugh on Clean Air Act Regulation

In 2014, the Supreme Court reversed Kavanaugh's decision on a Clean Air Act regulation in EPA v. EME Homer City Generation, L.P. by a vote of 6–2. Also in 2014, the Supreme Court reversed Kavanaugh's dissent from the denial of rehearing en banc of a unanimous panel opinion upholding the agency's regulation of greenhouse gas emissions in Utility Air Regulatory Group v. Environmental Protection Agency by a vote of 5–4.

2015: Kavanaugh on CFPB Constitutionality

In 2015, Kavanaugh found that those directly regulated by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) could challenge the constitutionality of its design.

2015: Supreme Court Reverses Kavanaugh in Michigan v. EPA

In 2015, the Supreme Court reversed Kavanaugh's dissent from a per curiam decision allowing the agency to disregard cost–benefit analysis in Michigan v. EPA by a vote of 5–4.

February 2016: Kavanaugh Dissent on Qualified Immunity

In February 2016, Kavanaugh dissented when the en banc circuit refused to rehear police officers' rejected claims of qualified immunity for arresting partygoers in a vacant house.

October 2016: Kavanaugh Finds CFPB Design Unconstitutional

In October 2016, Kavanaugh wrote for a divided panel finding that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's (CFPB) design was unconstitutional, and made the CFPB director removable by the president of the United States.

2016: Kavanaugh Dissent on Net Neutrality Rule

In 2016, in United States Telecom Ass'n v. FCC, Kavanaugh dissented when the en banc circuit refused to rehear a rejected challenge to the net neutrality rule, writing, "Congress did not clearly authorize the FCC to issue the net neutrality rule."

October 2017: Garza v. Hargan Decision

In October 2017, in the Garza v. Hargan decision, Kavanaugh joined an unsigned, divided panel of the D.C. Circuit in holding that the Office of Refugee Resettlement does not violate an unaccompanied alien minor's constitutional right to an abortion by requiring that she first be appointed a sponsor before traveling to obtain the abortion.

2017: Kavanaugh's Testimony on Kozinski's Behavior

During his testimony, Kavanaugh said that Kozinski's 2017 exposure as an alleged prolific sexual harasser was a surprising "gut punch".

January 2018: D.C. Circuit Reverses Kavanaugh's CFPB Judgment

In January 2018, the en banc D.C. Circuit reversed Kavanaugh's October 2016 judgment regarding the CFPB's design by a vote of 7–3, over Kavanaugh's dissent.

July 2018: Issue Reemerges After Supreme Court Nomination

In July 2018, the issue of Kavanaugh's involvement in the Bush administration's detention and interrogation policies reemerged after his nomination to the Supreme Court.

July 2018: Kavanaugh on Supreme Court Shortlist and Sexual Assault Accusations

In early July 2018, Brett Kavanaugh was shortlisted for the Supreme Court. Around the same time in July 2018, Christine Blasey Ford accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault during their high school years.

July 30, 2018: Ford's Letter to Senator Feinstein

On July 30, 2018, Christine Blasey Ford wrote to Senator Dianne Feinstein, informing her of the accusation against Kavanaugh and requesting confidentiality.

September 4, 2018: Senate Judiciary Committee Hearings Begin

On September 4, 2018, the Senate Judiciary Committee commenced public hearings on Kavanaugh's nomination, which were delayed at the onset by objections from the Democratic members about the absence of records of Kavanaugh's time in the George W. Bush administration.

September 5, 2018: Kavanaugh's Responses During Senate Hearings

On September 5, 2018, during the first round of questions from senators, Kavanaugh declined to comment on coverage of preexisting healthcare conditions, semiautomatic rifle possession, Roe v. Wade, or the president's power to self-pardon.

September 2018: Criticism for Investigation into Foster's Death

In a September 2018 New York Times op-ed, Princeton University history professor Sean Wilentz criticized Kavanaugh for having invested federal money and other resources into investigating partisan conspiracy theories surrounding the cause of Vincent Foster's death.

September 20, 2018: Allegations of Yale Professors Advising Students on Clerkships with Kavanaugh

On September 20, 2018, The Guardian reported that two Yale professors had advised female law students at Yale that their physical appearance and femininity could play a role in securing a clerkship with Kavanaugh. The report led to an investigation, but no cause for sanction was found.

September 23, 2018: Publication of Ramirez Allegation in The New Yorker

On September 23, 2018, The New Yorker published an article by Ronan Farrow and Jane Mayer featuring an allegation by Deborah Ramirez, who accused Kavanaugh of exposing himself and thrusting his penis against her face at a college party during the 1983–84 academic year.

October 4, 2018: White House Response to Ford's Allegation

On October 4, 2018, the White House announced that after reviewing the FBI's probe, they found no corroboration of Ford's allegation against Kavanaugh.

December 2018: Kavanaugh's Vote on Planned Parenthood Cases

In December 2018, Brett Kavanaugh joined Roberts and the Court's liberal justices to decline to hear cases seeking to block women from receiving Medicaid-funded medical care from Planned Parenthood clinics.

December 2018: Ethics Complaints Dismissed

In December 2018, a special federal panel dismissed eighty-three ethics complaints against Kavanaugh, stating that lower court judges lacked the authority to investigate Supreme Court justices.

2018: U.S. Supreme Court Vacated the en banc D.C. Circuit's judgment

In 2018, in a follow-up petition from the Solicitor General of the United States, the U.S. Supreme Court vacated the en banc D.C. Circuit's judgment and the girl's claim was ultimately dismissed as moot and does not serve as precedent.

February 2019: Kavanaugh on Louisiana Abortion Law

In February 2019, Brett Kavanaugh joined three conservative colleagues in voting to reject a stay of a Louisiana law restricting abortion, issuing a dissenting opinion and indicating willingness to reconsider if warnings from abortion rights groups materialized.

September 2019: Publication of 'The Education of Brett Kavanaugh'

In September 2019, The New York Times reporters Kate Kelly and Robin Pogrebin published "The Education of Brett Kavanaugh: An Investigation," which contained information challenging Ford's account and suggesting pressure on Keyser to conform her story.

The Education of Brett Kavanaugh: An Investigation

Check it on Amazon

2019: Chua Returns to Teaching

Following an investigation into allegations about advising students on clerkships with Kavanaugh, Chua returned to regular teaching in 2019.

June 15, 2020: Kavanaugh's Dissent in Bostock v. Clayton County

On June 15, 2020, in Bostock v. Clayton County, Brett Kavanaugh wrote a dissent arguing that sexual orientation discrimination has always been understood as distinct from sex discrimination.

June 29, 2020: Supreme Court Decides June Medical Services L. L. C. v. Russo

On June 29, 2020, the Supreme Court decided June Medical Services L. L. C. v. Russo, striking down Louisiana's requirement for abortion providers to hold hospital admitting privileges, with Kavanaugh dissenting.

September 2021: Kavanaugh's Vote on Texas Heartbeat Act

In September 2021, Brett Kavanaugh voted with the majority in the Supreme Court to decline an emergency petition to temporarily block enforcement of the Texas Heartbeat Act, which bans nearly all abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.

November 2021: Declining to hear an appeal from Mercy San Juan Medical Center

In November 2021, Kavanaugh voted with the majority of justices in a 6–3 decision to decline to hear an appeal from Mercy San Juan Medical Center, a hospital affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church, which had sought to deny a hysterectomy to a transgender patient on religious grounds.

June 8, 2022: Sophie Roske traveled to Kavanaugh's home with plans to murder him.

On June 8, 2022, Sophie Roske traveled from California to Kavanaugh's home in Maryland with plans to break into his home, murder Kavanaugh, and die by suicide. Roske called the police on herself and was arrested.

June 2022: Kavanaugh's Vote to Overturn Roe v. Wade

In June 2022, Brett Kavanaugh joined four justices in voting to completely overturn Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization.

June 2022: Assassination Plot

In June 2022, Brett Kavanaugh was the target of an assassination plot by a suspect hoping to disrupt rulings in Dobbs and Bruen.

2022: Protests at Kavanaugh's Home

In 2022, Kavanaugh's home was the site of protests following the leak of a draft majority opinion for the Supreme Court case Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization.

2023: Release of Doug Liman's Documentary 'Justice'

In 2023, Doug Liman's documentary 'Justice' recounts the sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh, including the testimony of Ford and Ramirez.

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April 8, 2025: Sophie Roske pleaded guilty to attempted murder

On April 8, 2025, Sophie Roske pleaded guilty to attempted murder of a U.S. Supreme Court justice.

May 2025: Unreleased Documentary

As of May 2025, the film Justice, recounting the sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh, has yet to be scheduled for a wide release.

October 3, 2025: Sophie Roske sentenced to 97 months in prison

On October 3, 2025, U.S. district judge Deborah Boardman sentenced Sophie Roske to 97 months in prison and a lifetime of supervised release for attempted murder of a U.S. Supreme Court justice.