We have a date! Kavanaugh Confirmation Hearings Begin September 4

The Senate Judiciary Committee announced on Friday that it will hold its confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh early next month.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the committee’s chairman, announced the hearing for President Trump’s nominee to replace former Justice Anthony Kennedy will start on Sept. 4 and last three to four days.

“He’s a mainstream judge. He has a record of judicial independence and applying the law as it is written. … It’s time for the American people to hear directly from Judge Kavanaugh at his public hearing,” Grassley said in a statement.

Republicans want Kavanaugh on the bench as early as the first of October, before the court starts its next term. They’ve warned that they won’t delay a final vote until after the midterm elections in November.

Click to expand...

Judge Kavanaugh has been on the DC Circuit Court of Appeals for 12 years. He has issued 307 opinions and joined hundreds more. He has a comprehensive record of jurisprudence that has been in the public domain for years.

The Judiciary Committee has reviewed hundreds of thousands of documents—more than were submitted for both Justice Gorsuch and Justice Kagan.

Documents submitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee pertaining to Judge Kavanaugh’s time serving in the White House Counsel’s and Independent Counsel’s offices are the largest number of executive branch records ever submitted to the Committee for a Supreme Court nominee.

Judge Kavanaugh returned the most comprehensive, bipartisan Senate questionnaire in Judiciary Committee history.

Senator Grassley has allotted more time between the nomination of Judge Kavanaugh and the start date of hearings than the timeline established by former Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy for Justices Sotomayor and Kagan. Senator Leahy scheduled hearings 49 days after the nomination of Justice Kagan, and 48 days after the nomination of Justice Sotomayor. Judge Kavanaugh’s hearings will start 57 days after his nomination. Hearings for Justice Gorsuch were held 48 days after his nomination announcement.

The Kavanaugh nomination has been the most transparent nomination process in history. During the presidential campaign, President Trump publicized a list of extraordinarily qualified individuals he said he would choose from to fill Supreme Court vacancies. Judge Kavanaugh has been on that list since November of 2017.

Click to expand...