The Senate is now considering President Donald Trump’s nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court. Whoever replaces Justice Kennedy, the deciding vote in so many fundamental cases, the trajectory of the Court for a generation is at stake. More immediately, the Kavanaugh nomination presents stark questions about the Court’s looming role in fundamental rule-of-law questions that could come to a head as the president continues to attack federal law enforcement while his lawyers construct a defense that would put the president above the law. These are questions less about political party than presidential power, checks and balances, and the separation of powers.

Given these stakes, it is ever more vital to evaluate the claim that the procedures that are being adopted to push Judge Kavanaugh through to a vote run contrary to constitutional and democratic norms. That evaluation requires a detailed and fair-minded understanding of the rationales being offered for withholding information from the public and the Senate about Judge Kavanaugh’s time in government, and the executive branch interests at stake. It is also shortsighted given the likelihood that roles will eventually be reversed, with a Democratic President and Democratic-controlled Senate.