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| Judge Kavanaugh’s Confirmation Hearings: Pandemonium From the Start | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Right Now: The Senate Judiciary Committee is supposed to be hearing opening statements but is arguing over documents related to Judge Kavanaugh’s time in the Bush administration. | |
| • Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh’s hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday began with a bang, as Democrats moved angrily to adjourn to consider newly released documents and protesters screamed in support. | |
| • Republicans hoped to use the hearings as an opportunity to extol the experience and distinguished résumé of Judge Kavanaugh, a Washington federal appeals court judge, as well as his advocacy for women in the judiciary and aversion to government regulations. Very few, if any, of the Republicans on the committee are likely to present the judge with tough opposition. | • Republicans hoped to use the hearings as an opportunity to extol the experience and distinguished résumé of Judge Kavanaugh, a Washington federal appeals court judge, as well as his advocacy for women in the judiciary and aversion to government regulations. Very few, if any, of the Republicans on the committee are likely to present the judge with tough opposition. |
| • Democrats, if they get to the questioning, are expected to aggressively press Judge Kavanaugh on his positions on Roe v. Wade, the landmark abortion rights case in 1973; the scope of executive power; same-sex marriage; and several other issues for which Judge Kavanaugh, if confirmed, would very likely shift the ideological leanings of the Supreme Court. | • Democrats, if they get to the questioning, are expected to aggressively press Judge Kavanaugh on his positions on Roe v. Wade, the landmark abortion rights case in 1973; the scope of executive power; same-sex marriage; and several other issues for which Judge Kavanaugh, if confirmed, would very likely shift the ideological leanings of the Supreme Court. |
| The moment Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing opened, Democrats and protesters turned it into a verbal brawl. Senator Kamala Harris, Democrat of California, immediately interrupted the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Charles E. Grassley, demanding a delay to consider tens of thousands of pages of documents released Labor Day night on Monday. | |
| Other Democrats backed her, especially the senators considering a run for the White House in 2020, as did women’s rights protesters, several of whom were arrested and thrown out as they decried the sessions as a sham. | |
| “We cannot possibly move forward, Mr. Chairman, with this hearing,” one of the presidential aspirants, Senator Harris, declared. | |
| Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut called the hearing “a charade and a mockery.” | |
| “What are we trying to hide? Why are we rushing?” asked Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont. | |
| As the Democrats spoke, activists were dragged, shouting, one by one out of the hearing room. “We dissent! Vote no! Vote no!” one cried. | |
| Mr. Grassley argued that the committee has received “more materials on Judge Kavanaugh than we have had on any Supreme Court nominee in history.” | |
| He said Republican aides have already reviewed the 42,000 documents that arrived Monday night. “That’s no reason to delay the hearing.” | |
| Democrats quieted down — temporarily — and the hearing appeared to be getting underway with Judge Kavanaugh introducing his family — including his wife, his parents, an aunt and uncle and cousins. | |
| But as soon as he finished, Democrats renewed their request to delay the hearing. | |
| Even the lawmakers present acknowledged that there had never been such a contentious opening to a hearing for a nominee for the Supreme Court. | |
| “This is something I’ve never gone through before in 15 Supreme Court nominations,” said Mr. Grassley, before explaining the procedures of the hearing to Senator John Kennedy, a freshman senator from Louisiana. | |
| Each member on the committee will have 10 minutes to give a statement, before Judge Kavanaugh will be introduced by Senator Rob Portman, Republican of Ohio; Condoleezza Rice, the former secretary of state; and Lisa Blatt, a self-described “liberal Democrat and a feminist” lawyer who has advocated Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation. | |
| The hearing will adjourn after Judge Kavanaugh’s statement. On Wednesday and Thursday, the senators will have 50 minutes each to question Judge Kavanaugh. | |
| About a dozen women, dressed in red robes and white bonnets in the fashion of “The Handmaid’s Tale,” stood silently, as if in prayer, outside the hearing room. Such protests have been occurring around the nation against gender discrimination and the infringement of reproductive rights. | |
| Democrats on the Senate Judiciary, furious at the White House for withholding documents relating to Judge Kavanaugh — and for dumping 42,000 pages on them at the last minute Monday night — took to the steps of the Supreme Court Tuesday morning to register their own opposition. | Democrats on the Senate Judiciary, furious at the White House for withholding documents relating to Judge Kavanaugh — and for dumping 42,000 pages on them at the last minute Monday night — took to the steps of the Supreme Court Tuesday morning to register their own opposition. |
| “Ninety-three percent of the records from Kavanaugh’s tenure in the White House as counsel and staff secretary have not been provided to the Senate and 96 percent are hidden to the public,” Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said, referring to Judge Kavanaugh’s time in the George W. Bush White House. “This entire process has cast a cloud over Judge Kavanaugh,” she added, saying, “We go to these hearings under protest.” | “Ninety-three percent of the records from Kavanaugh’s tenure in the White House as counsel and staff secretary have not been provided to the Senate and 96 percent are hidden to the public,” Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said, referring to Judge Kavanaugh’s time in the George W. Bush White House. “This entire process has cast a cloud over Judge Kavanaugh,” she added, saying, “We go to these hearings under protest.” |
| Democrats, pressing for a delay in the confirmation hearing of Judge Kavanaugh, repeatedly raised the specter in the room, Judge Merrick Garland. | |
| Judge Garland was nominated by President Barack Obama for the Supreme Court to fill the seat of Justice Antonin Scalia, but Republicans refused even to meet him, much less grant him a confirmation hearing. | |
| “I think you have to understand the frustration on this side of the aisle,” said Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee. “Understand where we’re coming from. It’s not to create a disruption.” | |
| Even Judge Kavanaugh, in an excerpt from his prepared remarks released by the White House on Tuesday morning, raised Judge Garland’s name, praising his colleague on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. | |
| “I have served with 17 other judges, each of them a colleague and a friend, on a court now led by our superb chief judge, Merrick Garland,” Judge Kavanaugh said. | “I have served with 17 other judges, each of them a colleague and a friend, on a court now led by our superb chief judge, Merrick Garland,” Judge Kavanaugh said. |
| Justice Scalia’s seat was ultimately filled by Justice Neil M. Gorsuch. | |
| The episode generated deep division and bitterness, and Judge Kavanaugh’s comment may rekindle it. | The episode generated deep division and bitterness, and Judge Kavanaugh’s comment may rekindle it. |
| Judge Kavanaugh, who has been quietly crisscrossing Capitol Hill to meet with senators on both sides of the aisle, will have the opportunity to publicly present himself and pre-emptively address criticism about aspects of his career, including his days working for Kenneth W. Starr, the independent counsel who investigated President Bill Clinton, and the accusation that he may have misled Congress during his appeals court confirmation hearing in 2006. | Judge Kavanaugh, who has been quietly crisscrossing Capitol Hill to meet with senators on both sides of the aisle, will have the opportunity to publicly present himself and pre-emptively address criticism about aspects of his career, including his days working for Kenneth W. Starr, the independent counsel who investigated President Bill Clinton, and the accusation that he may have misled Congress during his appeals court confirmation hearing in 2006. |
| The judge’s prepared remarks will most likely indicate how forthcoming he will be under questioning from lawmakers about his opinions on case law, judicial precedent and his previous rulings. In excerpts released Tuesday morning by the White House, Judge Kavanaugh vowed to be a “team player on the Team of Nine” if confirmed to the court. | The judge’s prepared remarks will most likely indicate how forthcoming he will be under questioning from lawmakers about his opinions on case law, judicial precedent and his previous rulings. In excerpts released Tuesday morning by the White House, Judge Kavanaugh vowed to be a “team player on the Team of Nine” if confirmed to the court. |
| “A good judge must be an umpire — a neutral and impartial arbiter who favors no litigant or policy,” the judge is expected to tell lawmakers. “I am a pro-law judge.” | “A good judge must be an umpire — a neutral and impartial arbiter who favors no litigant or policy,” the judge is expected to tell lawmakers. “I am a pro-law judge.” |
| Among other people, the judge will also acknowledge the legacy of Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, whose retirement enabled his nomination, and Judge Garland. | |
| Democrats have seized upon Judge Kavanaugh’s defense of presidential power — including his questioning of the merits of indicting a sitting president — as cause for concern, citing the numerous investigations and indictments that have implicated President Trump and members of his administration. In a law journal article, the judge also suggested that a sitting president should be exempt from civil or criminal investigation. | Democrats have seized upon Judge Kavanaugh’s defense of presidential power — including his questioning of the merits of indicting a sitting president — as cause for concern, citing the numerous investigations and indictments that have implicated President Trump and members of his administration. In a law journal article, the judge also suggested that a sitting president should be exempt from civil or criminal investigation. |
| Republicans have said that the judge’s words have been taken out of context. But during the confirmation hearing, Democrats will quite likely interrogate Judge Kavanaugh over those positions and whether he would agree to recuse himself from any case involving the president’s financial affairs or the special counsel’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. | Republicans have said that the judge’s words have been taken out of context. But during the confirmation hearing, Democrats will quite likely interrogate Judge Kavanaugh over those positions and whether he would agree to recuse himself from any case involving the president’s financial affairs or the special counsel’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. |
| Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, President Trump’s first nominee to the Supreme Court, said during his own confirmation hearings last year that he would not shy from voting against the man who nominated him, but did so in vague terms. | Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, President Trump’s first nominee to the Supreme Court, said during his own confirmation hearings last year that he would not shy from voting against the man who nominated him, but did so in vague terms. |
| For Democrats on the committee with possible presidential aspirations — including Senators Cory Booker of New Jersey, Harris and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota — the televised hearings offer an opportunity for combative questioning that can fuel both viral clips and material for a 2020 campaign. | |
| It is unclear how much Senator Feinstein will attempt to direct the questioning from members of her own party. As the Senate’s most ardent proponent of gun restrictions, she is expected to grill Judge Kavanaugh on a 2009 dissent in which he argued against banning semiautomatic weapons. | |
| Ms. Feinstein, who was the chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee when it conducted an investigation into the Bush administration’s torture program after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, may also pursue her own line of questioning over Judge Kavanaugh’s time as an associate White House counsel — especially his offer to help a senior administration official prepare testimony about the government’s surveillance of conversations between certain terrorism suspects and their lawyers. | Ms. Feinstein, who was the chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee when it conducted an investigation into the Bush administration’s torture program after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, may also pursue her own line of questioning over Judge Kavanaugh’s time as an associate White House counsel — especially his offer to help a senior administration official prepare testimony about the government’s surveillance of conversations between certain terrorism suspects and their lawyers. |
| That offer, revealed in a trove of documents released ahead of the confirmation hearing, contradicts Judge Kavanaugh’s 2006 testimony, in which he told lawmakers he was “not involved in the questions about the rules governing detention of combatants.” Democrats have charged that the statement, made in a White House email, was a lie, although it is unknown if Judge Kavanaugh actually provided assistance. | That offer, revealed in a trove of documents released ahead of the confirmation hearing, contradicts Judge Kavanaugh’s 2006 testimony, in which he told lawmakers he was “not involved in the questions about the rules governing detention of combatants.” Democrats have charged that the statement, made in a White House email, was a lie, although it is unknown if Judge Kavanaugh actually provided assistance. |
| While Justice Gorsuch’s hearings were punctated by reminders that Republicans refused to hold hearings for Judge Garland, it is likely that Democrats will focus instead on the amount of information they say is being withheld from them about Judge Kavanaugh’s work in the White House under President George W. Bush. | While Justice Gorsuch’s hearings were punctated by reminders that Republicans refused to hold hearings for Judge Garland, it is likely that Democrats will focus instead on the amount of information they say is being withheld from them about Judge Kavanaugh’s work in the White House under President George W. Bush. |
| Thousands of pages of records have not yet been made public, and on Friday the Trump administration asserted executive privilege and refused to release more than 100,000 pages of records about Judge Kavanaugh’s time in the Bush White House. Democrats have called for a delay of the confirmation hearings to further scrutinize the paper records, a demand Republicans have dismissed. | Thousands of pages of records have not yet been made public, and on Friday the Trump administration asserted executive privilege and refused to release more than 100,000 pages of records about Judge Kavanaugh’s time in the Bush White House. Democrats have called for a delay of the confirmation hearings to further scrutinize the paper records, a demand Republicans have dismissed. |
| An additional 42,000 pages of documents were released the night before the hearing, according to Senator Chuck Schumer, the minority leader, who raised complaints about the timing. | An additional 42,000 pages of documents were released the night before the hearing, according to Senator Chuck Schumer, the minority leader, who raised complaints about the timing. |
| “This underscores just how absurd this process is,” Mr. Schumer wrote on Twitter Monday night. “Not a single senator will be able to review these records before tomorrow.” | “This underscores just how absurd this process is,” Mr. Schumer wrote on Twitter Monday night. “Not a single senator will be able to review these records before tomorrow.” |
| A press officer for the committee, responding via the committee’s Twitter account a few hours later, said the majority staff had “completed its review of each and every one of these pages.” | A press officer for the committee, responding via the committee’s Twitter account a few hours later, said the majority staff had “completed its review of each and every one of these pages.” |