Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh on Wednesday will meet with a pair of Senate Democrats who could break with their leadership and vote to confirm him.
White House officials said Kavanaugh is scheduled to meet with Sens. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., and Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., on Wednesday afternoon in the offices of the lawmakers.
It will mark Kavanaugh’s second and third visit with Democrats — he met with Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., last month.
Manchin, Heitkamp, and Donnelly represent states that voted for Trump by double digits, and all three are up for re-election in November. The trio voted for Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch in 2017 and are considered the most likely Democrats to break with the party leadership and support Kavanaugh.
Senate Democrats have largely resisted meeting with Kavanaugh, who Trump nominated July 9 after former Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he first wants assurances he can view thousands of pages of documents from Kavanaugh’s years working for President George W. Bush, but Republicans argue the demands for all of the documents are unreasonable and that Democrats can learn about the nominee sufficiently from the paper trail provided. That includes his dozen years on the federal bench, where he served on the U.S Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
[More: Senate releases 5,700 documents from Kavanaugh’s time in Bush White House]
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, announced last week he will convene Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing on Sept. 4.
Republican leaders said they aim to confirm Kavanaugh in time for the Oct. 1 start of the court’s next term. But Democratic leaders say the GOP is rushing the confirmation process.
“We will see only a small portion of Kavanaugh’s White House documents by the time the hearing happens,” Schumer said this week. “Republicans want to keep his record hidden and are going to extraordinary lengths to do so.”
The Senate returns Wednesday from a nearly two-week break, which will allow Kavanaugh to resume his meetings with senators. He has been shepherded around the Capitol by former Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz.
Kyl called Heitkamp and Donnelly “both thoughtful senators who are in a tough election situation” and told the Washington Examiner that the two lawmakers “represent constituencies that are more conservative than many Democrats and that supported Trump.”
“I think they will take their obligation here seriously,” Kyl added.
Al Weaver contributed to this report.
