News & Politics

Trump’s Two SCOTUS Picks Also Went to High School Together

Georgetown Prep could soon control two-ninths of the Supreme Court

Photograph via iStock.

No matter what it means for the fate of the nation, Donald Trump’s latest judicial pick has made a more prosaic variety of history, too: If DC circuit judge Brett Kavanaugh were to join the court, it would be an astounding case of a jurist sharing a bench with someone he went to high school with. Both Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch attended Rockville’s Georgetown Preparatory School at the same time during the 1980s. They graduated in ’83 and ’85, respectively.

“Judge Kavanaugh has impeccable credentials and a proven commitment to equal justice under the law. He is a brilliant jurist […] universally regarded as one of the finest and sharpest legal minds of our times,” Trump said at the White House Monday evening.

Occupying two-ninths of the highest court in the nation would represent quite a feat for Prep, the Rockville Pike all-boys school that was founded as a feeder to Georgetown University.  The school’s mission, according to its website,  “is to form men of competence, conscience, commitment and compassion; men of faith and men for others.”

Still, there’s no evidence the two jurists ran in the same circles. While Gorsuch joked about forming a “Fascism Forever Club” at the school, Kavanaugh was a cornerback and wide receiver for the school’s varsity football team and served as captain of the school’s basketball team. A school staff member confirmed to Washingtonian that Kavanaugh was a staff member of the Little Hoya, the high school’s newspaper. Representatives of the Little Hoya were not immediately able to share clips from his glory days.

Supreme Court officials tell Washingtonian that they are unaware of this phenomenon ever happening before. An additional Trump appointee, current chair of the Federal Reserve Jerome Powell, is also a Prep grad.

The pair would join the ranks of other notable alumni including comedian Mo Rocca, Yankees GM Brian Cashman, and celebrity restaurateur David Chang. 

Kavanaugh also attended Mater Dei, an all-boys Catholic elementary school in Bethesda.

Staff Writer

Brittany Shepherd covers the societal and cultural scene in political Washington. Before joining Washingtonian as a staff writer in 2018, Brittany was a White House Correspondent for Independent Journal Review. While she has lived in DC for a number of years now, she still yearns for the fresh Long Island bagels of home. Find her on Twitter, often prattling on about Frasier.