Since 1971, when the August recess was formally established in the U.S. Senate, lawmakers used the time to campaign, meet with constituents or simply go on vacation. This summer, however, is proving unusually busy for the Republican-controlled chamber which will remain in session for the entire summer — except for the first full week of August — as it considers appropriations bills and presidential nominations. Particular focus remains on President Donald Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court, Judge Brett Kavanaugh.
Senate Republicans, led by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, have vowed to have Kavanaugh confirmed by the full Senate before the mid-term elections in November. Ideally, they wish to have him seated on the high court by the time its next term begins in early October. The nominee needs 51 votes in the Senate to be confirmed (currently there are 51 Republicans and 49 Democrats).
Republicans face political risks if a vote on Kavanaugh were delayed until after the elections and Democrats were to regain control of the Senate. A change in the balance of power would put the judge’s nomination in jeopardy.
No date has been set for a confirmation vote but already the vetting process has begun.
Late last Friday Kavanaugh, 53, who has served the last 12 years on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, formally delivered to the Senate Judiciary Committee a 110-page questionnaire and over 2000 pages of accompanying material. This includes, reports Politico, previously delivered speeches, published writings, interviews, past court filings and other related documents.
The Judiciary Committee is comprised of 21 senators (11 Republicans and 10 Democrats) and is chaired by Chuck Grassley (R-IA). Like previous Supreme Court nominees, Kavanaugh will be called to testify and answer questions from members of both parties before the committee votes on whether to recommend him for a full Senate vote. However, the committee can submit the nomination to the Senate with a recommendation that is favorable or unfavorable or with no recommendation at all. The committee has not set a date when its hearings will start.
Kavanaugh is not new to the confirmation process.
He was nominated to the Court of Appeals by President George W. Bush in July 2003, when Republicans also held a slim majority in the Senate. But Kavanaugh’s nomination proved so contentious that it languished for nearly three years. Finally, in May 2006 (also a mid-term election year), he was confirmed (57-36) by the Senate.
The D.C. Circuit has often been call the nation’s second most important court, as it frequently rules on major challenges to federal laws and policies. If confirmed, Kavanaugh would be the fourth member of the current Supreme Court to have come from that court. (The others are Chief Justice John Roberts, and Associate Justices Clarence Thomas and Ruth Bader Ginsburg).
Even with the searing heat of today’s partisan politics in Washington D.C., this nomination raises the feel-like temperature in the nation’s capital this summer.
Last decade, Kavanaugh held senior positions under President Bush, including in the White House counsel’s office, and as White House staff secretary. Because of this, NBC News recently reported, the George W. Bush Presidential Library “is thought to have up to millions of pages of documents relating to Kavanaugh — vastly more than the executive branch has ever produced for a previous Supreme Court nominee.” Those documents could have some insight on the policy-making role Kavanaugh played in the White House and whether he was involved in controversial policy decisions.
Kavanaugh also worked on the Ken Starr investigation of President Bill Clinton in the 1990s. And he also leaves his own long paper trail which will likely be scoured by skeptical senators. He has written almost 300 opinions for the appellate court during his 12 years on the bench.
Meanwhile, the larger political campaign for and against Kavanaugh rolls on.
The right is clearly invigorated by President Trump’s selection. Judicial Crisis Network has launched ad buys totaling $3.8 million in support of Kavanaugh. And The Heritage Foundation’s activist partners, says Axios, plans on spending the bulk of its $11.5 million budget on promoting the judge.
Two weeks into his nomination, no Senate Democrat has met with the prospective nominee; many Democrats have also declined his courtesy calls, the customary protocol of nominees seeking favor with members of both parties.
The left is galvanizing its base too. According to Axios, more than 100 organizations, led by Demand Justice, have signed a letter demanding that no hearing date is scheduled for Kavanaugh until all of his records from his time in the Bush administration are turned over to the Judiciary Committee.
Judge Kavanaugh was nominated earlier this month to succeed Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, who announced in late June his retirement, effective July 31. The 2017-2018 Supreme Court session ended on June 28; the new 2018-2019 session begins on October 1.
Since the founding of the republic, 118 justices, 17 chief justices and four women have served on the court. The last time a Republican nominee was presented to the Senate in July and later confirmed (in October) was in 1991. Justice Thomas was confirmed by a vote of 52-48, when Democrats controlled the Senate.
