SCOTUS Update: The Kavanaugh Conundrum

This past weekend was an absolute rollercoaster for the entire political atmosphere surrounding the United States Supreme Court nominee, United States Circuit Judge Brett Kavanaugh, and his accuser, psychology professor Christine Blasey Ford. On Thursday, both of the aforementioned people testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Composed and calm, Blasey Ford testified to what she remembered from the event involving nominee Judge Kavanaugh. Both sides of the aisle treated her claims with the utmost respect and decency.

Even President Trump joined the commentary stating, “She looks like a very fine woman…. A very credible witness.” After Ford spoke, Kavanaugh began his opening remarks with resolute and emotional rhetoric proclaiming his innocence. Many Democratic senators questioned the judge about everything from drinking beer to his high school yearbook. Kavanaugh was visibly upset, pausing in moments to hold back tears. Kavanaugh blasted the nomination process by stating that many Senate Democrats had replaced “advice and consent” with “search and destroy.”

He was clearly a man who had been decimated by multiple claims against his character. Even Republican senators who had remained silent for much of the hearing spoke out. Lindsey Graham rose to the occasion and stated, “If you wanted an FBI investigation you (Senator Feinstein) could’ve come to us! What you wanna [sic] do is destroy this guy’s life… when you see Sotomayor and Kagan, tell them that Lindsey says hello. I would never do to them what you’ve done to this guy. This is the most unethical sham since I’ve been in politics. And if you really wanted to know the truth you sure as hell wouldn’t have done what you did to this guy…” The committee moved to vote on Kavanaugh during Friday’s hearing and successfully passed him through the first hurdle out of the Judiciary Committee.

However, at the last moment, before the floor vote on Kavanaugh, Senator Jeff Flake asked his Republican colleagues to open a week-long FBI investigation into any additional sexual assault claims that have been leveled against Kavanaugh. Thus, the Senate has postponed the final vote. President Trump has allowed the FBI to provide a seventh background check on any recent allegations against Kavanaugh. Provided that this check does not find any additional information, Kavanaugh will see a vote on his nomination on Friday this week.