Confirmation hearing begins for Supreme Court nominee.
WASHINGTON — Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh isn’t the only one who engaged in practice sessions ahead of this week’s grueling confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Senators from both parties also prepped for the four-day marathon — including Wednesday’s multi-hour question-and-answer exchange — in which Kavanaugh’s views on the biggest legal issues of the day are expected to be mined for the conservative judge’s approach to the law.
Abortion, executive power, campaign finance reform, regulatory oversight and gun violence are among the many topics senators are preparing to probe after the 53-year-old appellate court judge raises his right hand Tuesday and is sworn in for the hearings.
The White House assembled a team of attorneys, Kavanaugh’s roster of former clerks, and other Republican lawyers to document his record and meticulously prepare him for the questions they expect him to face. For every line of questioning, the lawyers and communications aides have prepared suggested responses for Kavanaugh to deploy and amplifying material to release to the public.
The operation is standard for any confirmation process, but given the polarized political environment the White House prepared for an intense battle.
The process began shortly after Kavanaugh’s selection, with the team arranging binders on every conceivable issue. They lined the office used by the confirmation team in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building and many will move to Capitol Hill for the hearing. White House attorneys and his former law clerks engaged Kavanaugh in question and answer sessions on those topics.
Those conversations evolved into full mock hearings. The committee’s former chairman, Sen. Orrin Hatch, RUtah, chaired the mock sessions, as he and a number of other senators took turns grilling the judge on issues they expect committee members to raise, according to a Republican aide granted anonymity to discuss the process.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., also participated, according to a source familiar with the sessions. Justice Department and White House attorneys, as well as outside allies, stood in for key Republican and Democratic senators on the committee.
Senators on the Democratic side also engaged in similar sessions. Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., enlisted the expertise of Ron Klain, a former White House official and top debate adviser, for mock exchanges. He plans to focus much of his inquiry into Kavanaugh’s views on executive power. For the first round of questions, each senator on the panel is allotted 30 minutes.