(CNN) Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh has demonstrated a deep suspicion of government regulation, a pattern aligned with the Trump administration and perhaps best exemplified by his dissent in the case of a killer whale that attacked a SeaWorld trainer. That would inevitably lead to less regulation, observes Harvard law professor Jody Freeman, who specializes in administrative law and environmental issues. In the SeaWorld case, decided in 2014 by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Kavanaugh set up the issue as a question of "Who decides?" "Under the guise of ambiguity," Kavanaugh insisted, "agencies can stretch the meaning of statutes enacted by Congress to accommodate their preferred policy outcomes." For its part, the Trump administration wants judges who would diminish the influence of federal agencies on American life and business.

Source: CNN August 25, 2018 11:48 UTC