A contentious day one confirmation hearing for Judge Brett Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump's pick to fill a Supreme Court opening.
Eruptions throughout the day highlighted concerns and partisanship within the Senate Judiciary Committee.
North Carolina Republican U.S. Senator Thom Tillis took part in the several hour session on Capitol Hill, expressing his frustration with Democrats who interrupted the hearing multiple times asking for the hearings to be postponed until they have more time to vet the nominee.
Democrats say they were blindsided by 42,000 relevant documents dropped late Monday night. In his testimony Tillis blamed Democrats for their lack of preparedness.
Tillis said, "We have had nearly every member in the minority on this committee either publicly state or participate in a press conference that they were going to vote against Judge Kavanaugh, with most of them announcing it within the first 24 hours. Now, they are asking for thousands of pages of documents, and they have been graciously provided those by Chairman Grassley. These members have had plenty of time to get through the documents, they are just trying to find stall tactics because they already know they are going to vote against him."
Tillis went on to say, "I think we have before us an eminently qualified judge, and I am personally insulted when members on the other side of the aisle suggest I am complicit in evil if I support the nominee. I am glad Judge Kavanaugh is before us, he has more than 300 opinions the members can review to ask about his legal knowledge and constitutional understanding. These opinions are the single most important factor on his resume, and I hope my colleagues have taken the time to review these cases."
Judge Kavanaugh's hearing will resume Wednesday.
Eruptions throughout the day highlighted concerns and partisanship within the Senate Judiciary Committee.
North Carolina Republican U.S. Senator Thom Tillis took part in the several hour session on Capitol Hill, expressing his frustration with Democrats who interrupted the hearing multiple times asking for the hearings to be postponed until they have more time to vet the nominee.
Democrats say they were blindsided by 42,000 relevant documents dropped late Monday night. In his testimony Tillis blamed Democrats for their lack of preparedness.
Tillis said, "We have had nearly every member in the minority on this committee either publicly state or participate in a press conference that they were going to vote against Judge Kavanaugh, with most of them announcing it within the first 24 hours. Now, they are asking for thousands of pages of documents, and they have been graciously provided those by Chairman Grassley. These members have had plenty of time to get through the documents, they are just trying to find stall tactics because they already know they are going to vote against him."
Tillis went on to say, "I think we have before us an eminently qualified judge, and I am personally insulted when members on the other side of the aisle suggest I am complicit in evil if I support the nominee. I am glad Judge Kavanaugh is before us, he has more than 300 opinions the members can review to ask about his legal knowledge and constitutional understanding. These opinions are the single most important factor on his resume, and I hope my colleagues have taken the time to review these cases."
Judge Kavanaugh's hearing will resume Wednesday.
