WASHINGTON (AP) – After two marathon days questioning Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, senators concluded his confirmation hearing Friday by listening to others talk about him – friends stressing his fairness and warmth but opponents warning he’d roll back abortion rights and shield President Donald Trump.
One of the Democrats’ star witnesses was John Dean, Richard Nixon’s White House counsel who cooperated with prosecutors during the Watergate investigation. He told lawmakers that the high court with Kavanaugh on it would be “the most presidential powers-friendly court in the modern era.”
Senators on the Judiciary Committee are likely to vote on Kavanaugh’s confirmation on Sept. 20 with a vote by the full Senate the following week. Republicans hope to confirm the judge, who would nudge the high court further to the right, in time for the first day of court’s new term, Oct. 1.
With special counsel Robert Mueller deep into his investigation of Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election, committee Democrats expressed concerns throughout the weeklong hearing that Kavanaugh would side with Trump on questions such as whether a president can be forced to testify. Kavanaugh, like previous nominees, declined to answer hypothetical questions that might come before him as a justice.
Trump, campaigning in Fargo, North Dakota, said the Democrats had made fools of themselves and crowed that he was looking forward to running against “one of those people” in 2020. Committee members Cory Booker of New Jersey and Kamala Harris of California are among the Democrats considered possible candidates in the next presidential campaign.