Judiciary Committee pushes vote on Kavanaugh nomination to next week

The Senate Judiciary Committee pushed a vote on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court until next week, and decided to consider his nomination on Thursday, Sept. 20, at 1:45 p.m.

Kavanaugh’s nomination was included on the agenda for Thursday’s committee meeting, and it was expected the panel’s Democratic members would request the nomination be held over for one week.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, started the meeting by announcing Kavanaugh's nomination vote would be held for a week due to Democratic objections. After a few minutes of debate, the committee voted along party lines, 11-10, to set the committee's vote for Sept. 20 at 1:45 p.m.

Given that timeline, Republican Senate leaders now anticipate a Senate floor vote on Kavanaugh in last week of September, and have been aiming for Kavanaugh to take his seat on the Supreme Court by Oct. 1, the start of the court’s next term.

Thursday’s meeting got off to a raucous start, when Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., made a motion to adjourn the hearing and delay the nomination process. Blumenthal ultimately withdrew his motion and said he was “here under protest.”