Bush Aide Confirmed to U.S. Bench

White House aide Brett M. Kavanaugh won Senate confirmation as an appeals judge yesterday after a three-year wait, a new victory for President Bush in a drive to place a more conservative stamp on the courts. …

“Mr. Kavanaugh is a political operative,” said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), a member of the Judiciary Committee. “I can say with confidence that Mr. Kavanaugh would be the youngest, least experienced and most partisan appointee to the court in decades.” …

Kavanaugh was an assistant to independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr during the impeachment probe of President Bill Clinton and worked on behalf of the Bush campaign during the election recount in 2000.