Brett Kavanaugh will take the hot seat Tuesday when he heads before the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation hearing, a marathon event that caps off a bruising confirmation battle.
The hearing will be a major test for Kavanaugh, who would cause the ideological balance of the Supreme Court to shift firmly to the right if confirmed.
Kavanaugh’s nomination has already drawn opposition from more than two dozen Senate Democrats, and while many have already made up their minds about President Trump’s nominee, his confirmation hearing will also serve as a means for the public to draw their own conclusions about Kavanaugh.
“It’s important for the American people themselves to have an opportunity to see him and to see his responses,” said Carrie Severino, chief counsel and policy director at Judicial Crisis Network. “Right now, they’ve been hearing two narratives that are diametrically opposed about this nominee. Is he fair and experienced and an evenhanded judge, or is he the devil incarnate? We’re going to find out and see who shows up at the hearing. That’s going to be a service in itself.”
Kavanaugh has so far avoided making any missteps during the confirmation process, but sparks are expected to fly as Senate Democrats try to pin down his views on hot-button issues such as whether Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that established a woman’s right to an abortion, should be overturned or whether a sitting president should have to comply with a subpoena.
Trump’s Supreme Court nominee has spent weeks preparing for the marathon hearing, participating in mock hearings that span hours, according to reports.
The main event begins Tuesday at 9:30 a.m., when the Judiciary Committee’s 21 members will hear introductions from former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Lisa Blatt, a self-described “liberal feminist” lawyer.
Over the course of the next two days, Kavanaugh will be grilled by Senate Democrats and Republicans in two rounds of questioning. The first round will begin Wednesday, when members of the Judiciary Committee will get 30 minutes apiece. On Thursday, each senator will have 20 minutes for the second round of questioning.
The fourth day of Kavanaugh’s hearing, Friday, will hear from four panels of witnesses from the majority and the minority.
Before the close of the hearing, senators will hear from a group that includes two former solicitors general, Kavanaugh’s ex-law clerks, legal scholars, and other members of the legal community, who will offer their support for the Supreme Court nominee.
Among those scheduled to testify for Judiciary Committee Democrats are John Dean, the former White House counsel for President Richard Nixon, Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La., and Aalayah Eastmond, a survivor of the February shooting at a high school in Parkland, Fla.
The witnesses for the minority will speak about abortion, healthcare, executive power, gun violence, and abortion rights, among other issues, according to the office of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.
Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing is the culmination of what has been an intense campaign waged by Senate Democrats to defeat his nomination. With the assistance of liberal advocacy groups, Democrats have focused intently on the future of Roe if the Supreme Court consisted of five conservative justices.
The future of Roe is expected to hang over Kavanaugh’s confirmation proceedings. As a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Kavanaugh hasn’t weighed in directly on the issue of abortion.
However, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, told reporters following her meeting with Kavanaugh that he said he viewed the decision as “settled law,” which should make it easier for Republican women to support him.
While there has been much attention called to the issues of abortion and healthcare, Kavanaugh’s views on executive power have also emerged as a flashpoint during the nomination process.
His opponents have raised worries about a 2009 article he wrote for the Minnesota Law Review, in which said Congress should enact statutes that allow for civil suits, criminal investigations, and prosecutions of the president to be deferred while the president is in office.
Special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian meddling and possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia has led to even more urgency regarding Kavanaugh’s views on executive power, as questions of whether a sitting president has to comply with a subpoena for testimony or whether a sitting president can be indicted could wind up before the Supreme Court.
Rudy Giuliani, one of Trump’s lawyers, told the Washington Post last month they’re ready to take a fight over a possible subpoena from Mueller all the way to the justices.
The members of the Judiciary Committee are likely to present Kavanaugh with questions on a breadth of topics, including his relationship with former Judge Alex Kozinski of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, who Kavanaugh clerked for in 1991. Kozinski retired from the federal bench late last year after he was accused of sexual misconduct by at least 15 women.
“Alex Kozinski’s relationship with Judge Kavanaugh is a legitimate area of inquiry and I plan to question Judge Kavanaugh on this topic,” Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, told the Associated Press.
If Kavanaugh is confirmed by the Senate, he would be the second nominated by Trump to sit on the Supreme Court. Republicans hope to approve his nomination by Oct. 1, the start of the court’s next term.
