Every Question You Have About Brett Kavanaugh's Confirmation, Answered
With all the news that's come out about Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, it can be hard to keep track of just what's going on-and what's coming up next. Ahead, everything you need to know about the coming days, including the public hearing surrounding sexual assault allegations made against Kavanaugh and his actual confirmation.
What's happening with the sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh?
On Thursday the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a public hearing where they'll question Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Kavanaugh about the sexual assault allegations Ford publicly made against Kavanaugh. Ford has said Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed, groped her, and covered her mouth to keep from screaming, all while the two were at a high school party.
What will that hearing look like?
According to CNN, each senator in the committee will have five minutes to ask questions, with only one round of questioning allowed. Senators are also allowed to yield their time to counsel.
First, Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the committee, will give opening statements with no time limit. Then Ford will be sworn in, give her opening statement, which has no time limit, and be questioned. Ford will then leave, and Kavanaugh will enter and be sworn in and give an opening statement before being questioned.
Grassley confirmed he hired prosecutor Rachel Mitchell to do the questioning for Republican senators. (There are currently no female Republican senators on the committee.) CNN reports that Mitchell has extensive experience prosecuting sex crimes.
According to CNN host Brian Stelter, the room will have three cameras inside.
Then what happens?
As of now, the Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled a vote on Kavanaugh's nomination for Friday at 9:30 A.M., less than a day after the committee will have questioned Ford. This also means the committee won't be questioning Deborah Ramirez, the second woman who publicly accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct.
The committee would be voting on whether Kavanaugh gets a recommendation to the full Senate. (They can vote to give a positive, negative, or no recommendation.) Republicans have a one-seat majority in the committee, though it's unclear as of now whether Republican Sen. Jeff Flake will support Kavanaugh.
According to USA Today, the Senate normally follows the recommendation put forth by the committee, so what happens on Friday is important in deciding whether Kavanaugh will sit on the Supreme Court or not.
But will the committee vote definitely happen on Friday?
Not necessarily. According to The Hill, Grassley's office stated that committee rules require three days notice for an executive business meeting. Therefore, they put out a notice about the vote on Tuesday night, in case a majority of the committee is prepared to have the vote on Friday.
Judic Cmte noticed POTENTIAL exec mtg for Friday. Still taking this 1 step at a time. After hrg Dr Ford & Judge Kavanaugh’s testimony- if we‘re ready to vote, we will vote. If we aren’t ready, we won’t. Cmte rules normally require 3 days notice so we‘re following regular order
- ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) September 25, 2018
This vote has already been postponed several times, once after Ford's allegations were made public and again after Ford committed to a public hearing.
But if it does happen on Friday, what comes next?
If the committee votes on Friday, the full Senate could vote on Kavanaugh's confirmation as early as Monday. Kavanaugh would need a majority of the Senate to be officially confirmed; Republicans currently have a majority in the Senate but they can only lose one Republican vote before they would need a Democrat to vote in favor of Kavanaugh. As of now, there are three unclear Republican votes: Sen. Flake and Senators Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins.
On Monday, Murkowski told the New York Times, "We are now in a place where it’s not about whether or not Judge Kavanaugh is qualified. It is about whether or not a woman who has been a victim at some point in her life is to be believed."
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