Judge Brett Kavanaugh met with key Senate Republicans Wednesday in his quest to round up enough votes to be confirmed to the Supreme Court.
Kavanaugh, who was nominated by President Trump Monday, has so far met with a group of top GOP senators who will play key roles in the confirmation process. Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., have met separately with Kavanaugh since Monday.
Kavanaugh, who now serves on the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, will also meet with Democrats, but has not yet scheduled a meeting with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., a Schumer aide told the Washington Examiner.
Kavanaugh is also expected to meet with undecided GOP senators including moderates Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who Democrats are pressuring to oppose the nominee.
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Grassley, who controls the pace of the confirmation process, has not scheduled a confirmation hearing. But Republicans hope to confirm Kavanaugh by the start of the new Supreme Court term, which begins Oct. 1.
“Hopefully we’ll get it done quickly,” Grassley said Wednesday after meeting with Kavanaugh. “But it’s going to be thorough and it’s going to be done right.”
Kavanaugh’s history as a judge and former aide to President George W. Bush means lawmakers will be pouring through thousands of documents on Kavanaugh’s opinions and other writing.
Grassley called Kavanaugh “a respected jurist,” and praised the D.C. Circuit for “outstanding opinions that I think are going to be gone through by every lawyer, at least on our committee.”
Hatch, who is retiring and has voted on 14 Supreme Court nominees over his career, said “I expect his confirmation to go well,” despite efforts by opponents to “sully his reputation.”
Hatch added, “I have no doubt he is going to be a great justice.”
Graham, after meeting with Kavanaugh, called him “the best mind of his generation legally,” and said his life “has been lived in such an honorable fashion I’d want him to be my neighbor.”
Graham pointed out he has voted for former President Barack Obama’s judicial nominees and said Democrats should back Kavanaugh based on his qualifications.
“I know what you are trying to do,” Graham said, addressing Democrats. “Your base is all over you.”
Graham said while he understands most Democrats cannot vote for Kavanaugh because of politics, they shouldn’t try to paint Kavanaugh as an enemy.
“Don’t suggest Brent Kavanaugh is a bad guy because he disagrees with you,” Graham said, adding “it would be the right thing to do” for some red-state Democrats to back Kavanaugh.
Graham warned the partisanship over Supreme Court nominees is leading to a possible “nuclear option” on the legislative filibuster that would result in one party eventually changing the rules so that only a simple majority is needed to pass legislation. The rules have already been changed to lower the threshold to a simple majority for all judicial nominees, including Supreme Court picks.
“If there are a handful of Democratic senators that can hang in there and vote yes, not only would you be doing the body good but saving the institution from destruction,” Graham said.
[Related: Kavanaugh off to a ‘strong start’ among GOP moderates, court watchers say]
