Harris likely to take outsize role at hearing
WASHINGTON — Just seconds into the Supreme Court confirmation hearing of Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2018, Sen. Chuck Grassley, then the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, was interrupted by a sharp demand to be recognized from far down the Democratic side of the dais.
“We cannot move forward, Mr. Chairman, with this hearing,” Kamala Harris of California, the most junior Democrat on the panel, insisted after Grassley tried repeatedly to silence her — first by ignoring her and then by declaring her out of order.
Harris’ dogged effort to delay the hearing failed. Kavanaugh went on to be confirmed after a searing fight, featuring sharp questioning by the senator.
Today, she remains the lowest-ranking Democrat on the panel. But when the Judiciary Committee convenes Monday to consider the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, Harris will take on an outsize role in the proceedings as the party’s vice presidential nominee. Almost as many eyes will be on her as on Barrett.
Her seat on the panel will provide Harris a prominent platform to frame the stakes of Barrett’s nomination for voters and amplify the message that Joe Biden, the party standard-bearer, is pressing in the final weeks of the campaign. But it will also require her to strike a delicate balance — one that she has been forced to calibrate ever since she joined Biden on the Democratic ticket — between being on the attack and coming across as sincere and broadly appealing.
Colleagues say that Harris’ capable turn at the debate last week against Vice President Mike Pence made it clear that she will have done her homework and be unafraid to challenge Barrett, arguing that she poses a grave threat to the Affordable Care Act and abortion rights. But no one expects Harris to take any kind of confrontational risk that could backfire and alienate voters, especially given Biden’s steady lead in the polls over President Donald Trump.
“Kamala Harris has already shown herself to be well grounded and well prepared, but also able to ask pointed questions,” said Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., a fellow member of the panel. “She will help make clear to the American people the enormous consequences of Judge Barrett being confirmed to the Supreme Court.”
Harris is not the only member of the committee in the middle of a contentious race. Four Republicans — Lindsey Graham of
South Carolina, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Joni Ernst of Iowa and John Cornyn of Texas — also face the voters in a matter of days. They hope to use the hearings to bolster Republican enthusiasm while avoiding any political missteps.
Graham, the committee chairman in an unexpectedly difficult fight back home, is in a particularly visible role. He will be under fire for proceeding with a hearing that Democrats consider out of bounds given its proximity to the election.
Harris had planned to attend the hearings in person unless health and safety considerations arose. But Sunday, she announced that she would instead monitor the proceedings from her Senate office, reinforcing the Democratic argument that Republicans are acting irresponsibly in pushing forward with the hearings even as the coronavirus has infected members of the committee.
Still, Republicans expect Harris to be among the most outspoken against the nomination, given her prominent political role and their memory of her participation in Kavanaugh’s hearing and other Senate confirmation battles.
Democrats say the criticism from Republicans reflects their concern about the abilities of Harris, a former prosecutor, when grilling witnesses.