The clock is ticking, and Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., is running out of time.
Donnelly promised to do the same for the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh as he did for Judge Neil Gorsuch. He met Gorsuch 15 days after his nomination, meaning that, at least according to the calendar, the Indiana Democrat has until Tuesday to schedule a sit-down with Kavanaugh.
But the senator and the nominee will miss their connection. A Donnelly aide tells me that the senator does not “have any schedule announcements.”
Neither do any of the other Democrats in the upper chamber. Two weeks into his nomination and Kavanaugh hasn’t sat across the table from a single senator who isn’t a Republican. Along with every other red-state Democrat, Donnelly declined to attend the nomination ceremony at the White House.
[Also read: Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh on the major issues]
This is not surprising and this is not a coincidence. As CNN reported a week ago, Democrats have delayed a meeting with the justice to give themselves more time to dig-in for the confirmation battle. Last week members of the Senate Judiciary Committee demanded the National Archives send documents relating to Kavanaugh’s time in the White House, a paper trail that includes millions of documents.
Fair is fair though. Republicans, including then-Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, demanded to see documents from Elena Kagan’s time in the Clinton White House. Now the shoe is on the other partisan foot.
And that precedent provides Donnelly and other red-state Democrats a little room to maneuver. But not much. While he hasn’t met with the nominee, Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., sat down with him last Tuesday. The longer Donnelly waits, the longer he will be susceptible to attacks like this one from challenger Mike Braun:
“Sen. Donnelly is misleading Hoosiers: he promised to evaluate Judge Kavanaugh in the same manner he did with Neil Gorsuch but, unlike the previous nomination, he’s refusing to meet with President Trump’s highly qualified nominee,” Braun spokesman, Josh Kelley, said in a statement. “Donnelly’s refusal to honor his word is another reminder that he says one thing to Hoosiers and does the opposite in Washington.”
Donnelly and other red-state Democrats can shut down that line of attack whenever they want. According to White House spokesman Raj Shah, Kavanaugh is “ready and willing” to meet with senators.
