WASHINGTON – In an escalating partisan fight over President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh, Republican senators Thursday called the “historic” number of documents requested by Democratic senators a stalling tactic to slow down the confirmation.
Sen. Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, questioned the sincerity of the Democrats’ request, asking, “How much do they need more to vote no?”
Standing in front of a wall of 167 boxes with Kavanaugh files, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., called them “the equivalent of documentation that have been summitted in total for the last five Supreme Court nominees.”
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said Kavanaugh has been “very well examined for this position.”
“If anyone deserves to be on the Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh certainly does,” he said.
Even though unsure of the definite time to hold Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing, Grassley said he expects that will be sometime during September.
Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., and several union leaders later Thursday responded to the GOP outrage by saying the need for a thorough examination of the nominee was beyond partisan disagreement.
Unions and workers’ rights will be jeopardized if Kavanaugh is confirmed, based on his previous rulings, Casey said.
Kavanaugh’s judicial records prove his “unbending loyalty” to corporate powers, said AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka.
“Working people deserve a nominee who extends the promises of our country,” Trumka said. “We don’t need another justice who only listens to the whispers of the wealthy few.”