Nevada's vulnerable Sen. Heller has one very good reason to oppose Trump SCOTUS nominee
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If there is one single political issue that is salient for the whole state of Nevada, it's the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, a decades-old fight between pretty much the entirety of the state and the federal government. Opposition to the siNevada's vulnerable Sen. Heller has one very good reason to oppose Trump SCOTUS nominee
If there is one single political issue that is salient for the whole state of Nevada, it's the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, a decades-old fight between pretty much the entirety of the state and the federal government. Opposition to the site is actually the official state position, and has united the state's Republican and Democratic elected officials since 1987. Which puts Sen. Dean Heller, the Senate's most vulnerable Republican in 2018, in a very hot seat when it comes to his vote on Brett Kavanaugh, Trump's Supreme Court nominee. In 2013, Kavanaugh was part of a three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit reviewing «that stopped the Obama Administration's Department of Energy (DOE) from killing the project and forced the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to resume its licensing.» Guess who wrote the majority ruling on that? Yep, Kavanaugh. Ironically, the dissenting opinion came from Judge Merrick Garland. Heller's Democratic opponent in the general election, Jackie Rosen, was quick to point out the tough position he's in on this vote, and where she stands. “I have serious reservations about Judge Kavanaugh, and his pro-Yucca ruling adds to my list of concerns about how his confirmation to the Supreme Court would harm hardworking Nevadans,” Rosen said. “We have to do everything we can to keep our state from becoming the nation’s nuclear waste dump, and this ruling should raise major red flags for Senator Heller as he evaluates this nominee.” Heller isn't saying much of anything right now, not providing comment for this Nevada Independent story. He's said about the nomination in general he supports Kavanaugh, but also «has said he would do anything to ensure the project does not get built.» He's going to have to answer whether «anything» includes blocking a Supreme Court justice who could ultimately approve the project. Rosen could definitely make this an issue for November: 58 percent of Nevada voters are opposed to efforts to reopen the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste storage site. Add in the threats Kavanaugh poses to Obamacare and the Medicaid expansion that’s covered so many Nevadans, and Heller is a possible defector on Kavanaugh—not a likely one, but one worth pursuing. In the meantime, let's make life harder for him. Please contribute $3 to the fund to flip his seat. Read more