Democrats to delay Kavanaugh vote until next week

Democrats are poised to block a Thursday committee vote to advance the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, placed Kavanaugh’s nomination on Thursday’s schedule. But Democrats will likely use a committee rule that allows them to keep the nomination on hold for at least another week.

That means a Judiciary Committee vote on Kavanaugh isn’t likely to happen until Sept. 20 at the earliest.

“I expect that the minority will request that the nomination be held, so a vote is unlikely on Thursday,” George Hartmann, a spokesman for the Senate Judiciary Committee, told the Washington Examiner.

Democrats haven’t indicated what they will do on Thursday. But judicial nominees “are typically held over for one week after they are first listed on the agenda,” said Ashley Schapitl, spokeswoman for Sen. Dianne Feinstein, of California.