At least 22 Democratic senators, some of whom sit on the Senate Judiciary Committee, already made up their minds against confirming Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court before his hearing commenced Tuesday.
Judiciary Committee senators who said they would not vote for him include Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, California Sen. Kamala Harris and Hawaii Sen. Mazie Hirono, according to CNN.
“I will be a ‘no’ vote on this nominee,” Blumenthal said July 9, according to CNN. “Judge Kavanaugh’s record and writings — which I have reviewed — signal an extreme hostility to the precious rights and liberties that make our nation great.”
President Donald Trump announced he picked Kavanaugh July 9.
Hirono canceled an Aug. 23 meeting with Kavanaugh and said Trump “does not deserve the courtesy of a meeting with his nominee — purposely selected to protect, as we say in Hawaii, his own okole,” reported Politico.
“Okole” is a slang way to refer to buttocks in Hawaiian.
Other Democratic senators who announced their opposition to Kavanaugh before hearings began include New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Delaware Sen. Tom Carper.
Carper is the only current Democratic senator who voted for Kavanaugh to be a U.S. Circuit judge in 2006 but said he wants to wait until after the midterm elections to confirm a new Supreme Court justice, reported USA Today.
New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker will likely vote no as well after accusing Kavanaugh supporters of being “complicit in evil” during a speech in which he quoted the Psalms July 24. (RELATED: As Kavanaugh Hearing Hearings Loom, One Senate Democrat Regrets Abolishing Filibuster)
Kavanaugh only needs 51 “yes” votes to be confirmed after Democrats killed the filibuster for judicial nominees in 2013. Republican senators considered “on the fence” about Kavanaugh include Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Maine Sen. Susan Collins.
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