Senator John Kennedy went nuclear on a witness during a tense Senate hearing, calling her out for calling Supreme Court Justices “evil” and skewering her with his signature humor as she attempted to defend her controversial statements.
For context, Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) got incredibly frustrated with law professor Kate Shaw during a Senate hearing on June 4, 2025, bringing up comments from the professor’s podcast that implied that conservative Supreme Court Justices were “evil.” The senator, unable to hide his disgust with this idea, exclaimed, “Gag me with a spoon!”
During the hearing, Sen. Kennedy asked Professor Shaw if she would advise a client to “defy a federal court order,” to which she replied, “I mean, under most circumstances, we follow the government, and private parties follow court orders.” She continued, “I suppose it’s not—I would not rule out ever the possibility that in a sufficiently egregious order, there should be some consideration of whether there’s a way…”
At this point, the senator interjected, saying to the professor, “So, in some cases, you would?” Professor Shaw replied, “In an extremely narrow band of cases, I think it would be considered, yes.” Sen. Kennedy responded by asking the other witnesses, “Do any of you think that nationwide or universal injunctions are not being abused?”
In response, the professor said that she was unsure about the “time horizon” on Sen. Kennedy’s question, adding, “I don’t think that—there could be good faith disagreements about the correctness of some of them, but I have not seen, in the last four months, abuse.” Sen. Kennedy later asked the professor, “Do you think nationwide injunctions are being abused?” to which she more clearly replied, “Certainly, Senator.”
With frustration clearly building, Sen. Kennedy said to the professor, “I’ve read your stuff. I’ve read your writings.” He added, “I don’t want to get bogged down with this, but I have little respect for your opinion because I’ve read your stuff.” The professor went on to say, “When someone is in the White House that you agree with, and someone gets a universal injunction against him, you don’t like universal injunctions. You called them judges acting like politicians in robes, and judges looking like crass political actors.”
Next, the senator zeroed in on the professor’s use of the word “evil” to describe certain Supreme Court Justices, saying, “On April 22, 2024, you said there are some members of the Supreme Court that are ‘evil.” Which justices were you talking about?” The professor responded, “I’ll take your word, Senator. I don’t recall using that word.” Sen. Kennedy then quoted her as saying, “‘Justice Kagan—I mean, will she be able to control the opinion’s future distortion by her evil colleagues? Probably not.'”
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Weighing in on the professor’s statements, Sen. Kennedy said, “On your broadcast—April 22, 2024. Big as Dallas. And you’re an officer of the court. And you’re here advising us to be respectful to federal judges. And you say there are evil members of the United States Supreme Court? Gag me with a spoon. You’re part of the problem in all of this.”
Watch the exchange:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video