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Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh returns to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday as Senators receive their first chance to publicly interview President Trump's Supreme Court candidate.
Kavanaugh, Member of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, Should Face Aggressive Issues of Executive Power, the Right to Abortion, Firearms Regulations and Health Care . The Senate marathon was opened at 9:36 am by the Senate Judiciary Committee Chair, Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), and will last all night. Each member of the committee will have 30 minutes to speak during the first round of questions.
The hearing follows a full day of opening statements on Tuesday, in which Democrats recorded strong objections and pushed Republicans for a delay in light of more than 42,000 pages of career documents. from Kavanaugh to the George W. Bush White House committee the night before. Dozens of protesters exacerbated the chaos as US Capitol police arrested 70 people for disorderly conduct or illegal demonstrations.
Kavanaugh, 53, has a good chance of being confirmed in the Senate vote later this month.
Highlights of the hearing:
• Feinstein, Kavanaugh hopes to be eligible for powerful firearms
• Kavanaugh says "nobody is above the law" in answer to a question about executive power
10:15 am: Feinstein, Kavanaugh hopes to be eligible for powerful firearms
Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Author of the banning of certain high-powered firearms, pressured Kavanaugh over his dissent in a 2011 ruling upholding Washington's ban on semi-automatic rifles. automatic.
Kavanaugh said that he was following the Supreme Court's precedent in the landmark decision declaring an individual right to possession of a firearm. Semi-automatic rifles, he said, are widely held throughout the country and therefore can not be banned, according to the ruling of the high court.
Feinstein asked how Kavanaugh could "reconcile what you just said with the hundreds of school shootings" that rely on such powerful weapons.
Violence in schools is something we all hate, Kavanaugh said, but he was confined by his reading of the high court decision.
10:06: Kavanaugh says that he was not questioned about his views on Roe v. Wade during the nomination process
Kavanaugh testified that he had not been questioned about his opinions on Roe v. Wade He also did not promise how he would govern while he was being contemplated to replace retired judge Anthony M. Kennedy.
President Trump was criticized by the Liberals for promising in his 2016 presidential election to appoint only "pro-life" judges to the Supreme Court, and Democrats have warned that confirming Kavanaugh to replace Kennedy's constitutional right to an abortion.
But questioned by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), Kavanaugh said he was not questioned about his views on Roe.
Kavanaugh also stated that he gave no promise or assurance during the review process of how he would go to court. The questionnaire from his committee shows Kavanaugh interviewed with Trump on July 2, spoke to him on the phone on July 8 and accepted the appointment to replace Kennedy later in the same evening at the White House.
9:49: Kavanaugh says "nobody is above the law" in answer to a question about executive power
Kavanaugh said Wednesday that top judges were "independent and immune from political or public pressure" and cited two cases in which the high court had not been influenced by politics.
In response to Grassley's preliminary questions, Mr. Kavanaugh cited the landmark decision that forced President Richard Nixon to hand over Watergate's records and the court's decision to separate public schools as examples of the court's independence.
Grassley asked Kavanaugh if he would have a hard time pronouncing against the man who named him as the Democrats suggested.
"No one is above the law," replied the judge.
9:42 AM Hillary Clinton says Kavanaugh "would help overthrow or overthrow" Roe v. Wade
As questions began, Hillary Clinton went on Twitter to attack Kavanaugh's reproductive rights record and urged supporters to oppose her candidacy for the Supreme Court.
"If Brett Kavanaugh becomes a Supreme Court Judge, will he help overthrow or overthrow Roe v. Wade, who legalized abortion in America? Yes, of course, he will do it, "said Clinton, Democratic presidential candidate in 2016, said in the first of eight tweets sent in quick succession.
"The anti-abortion groups have backed Kavanaugh, considering him a reliable vote to overthrow Roe," the former secretary of state said in another.
"His confirmation would be a victory for activists who want to end a woman's right to make her own health decisions."
She urged those who agree with her to "pick up the phone right away and call your senators" by tweeting the #StopKavanaugh hashtag.
9:36 am: The hearing begins
Grassley participated in the hearing, with 17 senators present. Kavanaugh sat alone at the witness table with his wife and a full audience behind him. The first voices of the protesters were heard at 9:37, as they were out of the room.
8:24 AM Grassley pushes Democrats
Grassley on Wednesday morning pushed Democrats' demands for access to more documents from Kavanaugh's mandate in George W. Bush's White House.
"It's irrelevant that he's a judge," Grassley said in an interview on "CBS This Morning".
Grassley said senior Democrats have said in the past that "the best judge of whether a candidate should be in the Supreme Court is the cases they have already heard on the lower courts" – and that the same standard should be applied to Kavanaugh.
On Tuesday, Grassley's opening remarks were delayed by nearly an hour and a half as Democratic senators sought to interrupt the hearings, raising an uproar following a last minute discharge sent to the Judiciary Committee. over 42,000 pages. to the White House.
Grassley said the theatricality that played on national television was not typical of the committee he chairs.
"We work more collegially than you see on television," he said.
20h20: What to watch today?
Judge Brett Kavanaugh, a Supreme Court candidate for President Trump, listens to committee members at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, September 4, 2018 in Washington, DC (photo by Salwan Georges / The Washington Post)
• Democrats will try to tell Kavanaugh about how he will rule on access to abortion and the Affordable Care Act.
• The Republicans will repel the Democrats' attempts to draw Kavanaugh's details by citing the example of Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who stated at her confirmation hearing that she would give "no hint" on the how it would rule on future affairs.
• More than a decade ago, Democrats will be asking questions about Kavanaugh's testimony about his involvement in the Bush administration's controversial policy of detainees.
Read more right here.
Read more about Brett Kavanaugh's cover:
Stakes for Brett Kavanaugh: the president who chose him and the Supreme Court, he would change
The story behind the documents retained from Kavanaugh's audience
Learn more about PowerPost
Robert Barnes, Michael Kranish and John Wagner contributed.
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