by The Cowl Editor on September 20, 2018
National and Global News
By Micaela Freeman ’20
Brett Kavanaugh, judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, is currently under investigation during his confirmation into the Supreme Court.
Nominated by President Trump, Kavanaugh has recently been charged with alleged sexual misconduct and has been questioned by senators during his confirmation process.
The GOP nominee’s confirmation has been delayed by the Senate due to Christine Ford accusing Kavanaugh of trying to force himself on her during a party in high school that involved alcohol.
Kavanaugh has denied Ford’s allegations. Both will testify to the Senate Judiciary Committee addressing the allegations and in a public forum on Monday.
Republican Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana predicted on Sunday that the Judiciary Committee will vote to advance Kavanaugh’s confirmation despite the new allegations of sexual misconduct.
However, the confirmation will be pushed back until after Kavanaugh and Ford’s testimonies to the Senate.
Along with Democrats’ skepticism of Kavanaugh, the allegations against him have set the confirmation timeline behind schedule, and has caused debate amongst both Democratic and Republican senators.
Republican Chuck Grassley of Iowa, judiciary committee chairman, counts on moving forward despite the allegations from Ford.
During last week’s committee meeting, Democrats asked for a one-week delay due to the committee rules allowing any member to request a delay on the vote of a nominee.This was prior to the announcement that both parties were going to testify.
The future of Kavanaugh’s confirmation lies in the hands of the Senate, which is currently a tight Republican hold, 51-49 majority in the chamber. No Democrat has come out in support of Kavanaugh’s nomination.
GOP sources have said that they expect the final confirmation vote to be this month unless swing-state Republican Senators Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski go against the party line.
Now that the midterm election is behind the nation, the Senate’s eyes are on the 10 Democrats Trump carried in the 2016 election, as everyone is intrigued to see how they will react against the Kavanaugh decision.