Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, will introduce Brett Kavanaugh, President Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court, at his confirmation hearing next week, according to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The committee announced Tuesday that joining Rice and Portman in introducing Kavanaugh will be Lisa Blatt, a liberal Supreme Court litigator.
Blatt, who clerked for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, has argued 35 cases before the Supreme Court, of which she has won 33.
Rice and Kavanaugh worked together at the White House during President George W. Bush’s administration, with Rice serving as national security adviser from 2001 to 2005. Kavanaugh worked as associate counsel and senior associate counsel from 2001 to 2003, when he became staff secretary, a position he held until 2006.
The first day of Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing, which is expected to span four days, will begin Tuesday at 9:30 a.m.
The Judiciary Committee said additional witnesses will be announced at a later date.
President Trump last month nominated Kavanaugh to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy, who retired last month, on the Supreme Court.
Kavanaugh, a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, has spent the weeks following his nomination meeting with more than 60 senators on both sides of the aisle.
[Also read: Chuck Grassley says staff has reviewed 430,000 pages of Brett Kavanaugh records]
