Protesters made more noise at Day 2 of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing, and Democrats shut down the Senate in an attempt to close down the hearing completely.
Antics like that are likely to continue all week, as Democrats explore every procedural tool at their disposal to disrupt Republicans, who are determined to confirm Kavanaugh by the end of the month. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., hasn’t said whether he’ll shut down the Senate again on Thursday, and Democrats weren’t giving any hints about what’s next.
“You’ll have to wait and see tomorrow,” Matt House, a top aide to Schumer, told the Washington Examiner when asked if he plans to repeat the tactic.
Democrats are fuming over the absence of thousands of pages of documents involving Kavanaugh that they say should be released before the Senate considers him. As part of their protest, they withheld consent for Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing to continue past 2 p.m. — consent is always required and on most days is granted so committees can do their work into the afternoon.
But Wednesday, Schumer said Democrats weren’t playing along, and the only way to keep the hearing going was to adjourn the Senate, which Republicans did.
“We will not consent to business as usual on the Senate floor today,” Schumer announced on the Senate floor Wednesday. “Republicans are trying to jam through, with as little scrutiny as possible, a lifetime appointment to the nation’s highest court, with the power to affect the lives of Americans for a generation.”
As the minority party, Democrats don’t have many options for holding up Kavanaugh, which is why they could move again to shut down the Senate in protest on Thursday. But Republicans are shrugging off the move and say it’s not going to impact their agenda.
“It doesn’t delay anything or affect our bottom line,” a GOP aide told the Washington Examiner. Republicans had already secured an agreement prior to Labor Day on confirming eight district judges and are working behind the scenes on House-Senate compromise bills to fund the federal government and authorize agriculture and food stamp programs.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., withheld criticism of Schumer for trying to block the hearing.
He told reporters, “I can understand their attitude about judicial appointments,” which stems in part from McConnell’s refusal to take up Judge Merrick Garland, former President Barack Obama’s high court nominee, back in 2016. But McConnell said he disagrees with the Democrats’ continued slow-walking of other executive branch nominees, which he said is unprecedented.
Democrats are under intense pressure to do all they can to obstruct Kavanaugh’s confirmation despite their minority status and inability to filibuster a Supreme Court pick. Wednesday morning, 13 liberal groups complained in a letter to Schumer that he wasn’t doing enough to stop Kavanaugh and said he needs to gain control of all 49 Democrats so they come out against the nominee.
Anything less, they said, would be a “massive failure of your leadership.”
“Your job as Senate Democratic leader is to lead your caucus in complete opposition to Trump’s attempted Supreme Court takeover and to defend everyone threatened by a Trump Supreme Court,” the letter said. “But unbelievably, nearly two dozen Democrats have still not come out against Kavanaugh, and just last week, you helped Majority Leader Mitch McConnell fast track 15 Trump judicial nominees. That is not the leadership we need.”
With the swearing in of Jon Kyl to replace John McCain’s Arizona seat, Republicans now control the chamber by a two-vote majority, and it appears every GOP senator will vote to confirm Kavanaugh. Under current Senate rules, a simple majority is enough to get him through.
In the meantime, protests and interruptions inside the hearing room seem likely to continue. Democrats held a coordination call before Tuesday’s chaotic hearing opener and decided that instead of walking out of the hearing, they would interrupt it constantly with motions to adjourn and requests to postpone.
“We came to the conclusion to be in the room, to try to get the hearing delayed or postponed at the very beginning and I think it worked out very well,” Schumer said Wednesday.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, opened Wednesday’s hearing by pointing out the proceedings were interrupted on Tuesday 63 times before the panel broke for lunch.
“Today is different,” Grassley said Wednesday. “Today is the day the American people are supposed to hear from the nominee.”
A protester shouted over Grassley and was removed.
By Wednesday afternoon, the Kavanaugh hearing was proceeding smoothly for the most part, with occasional interruptions by protesters who were removed one at a time when they began shouting. Grassley has refused to clear the hearing room, which has forced Republicans to suffer through these occasional outbursts.
Thursday’s hearing will provide time for a second round of questions by Senators. Friday’s proceedings will feature testimony from character witnesses.
Grassley said he’d hold a committee vote on Kavanaugh on Sept. 13, allowing a week for Kavanaugh to answer follow-up questions. McConnell plans a floor vote this month, in time for Kavanaugh to be seated on the court by the start of the new Supreme Court term that starts Oct 1.
McConnell praised Kavanaugh’s “virtuoso performance” at the hearing Wednesday and pointed out Senate support hasn’t wavered since he was nominated in July.
“We will move through the committee process this week,” McConnell said.
