RNC Hits Senate Dems for Latest Kavanaugh Delay Tactic

A Republican National Committee (RNC) official said on Monday that Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats are “grasping at straws” with their latest push to delay the potential confirmation of U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

“Senate Democrats are grasping at straws as they desperately try to obstruct one of the most transparent Supreme Court nominations in history,” RNC spokesman Steve Guest told LifeZette. “There is no legitimate reason for Democrats not to work with Republicans and swiftly confirm Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.”

President Donald Trump nominated Kavanaugh (pictured above) July 9. Even before Kavanaugh’s name was announced, dozens of Senate Democrats said they would vote against the nominee.

The committee convenes its first confirmation hearing Tuesday. Democrats hope to delay confirmation past the November election in the hope their party will regain the Senate majority and be able to kill Kavanaugh’s nomination.

In a recent letter, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the committee’s ranking minority member, and the other nine Democrats on the panel asked for a delay.

“There is no legitimate reason for Democrats not to work with Republicans and swiftly confirm Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.”

“Over the past several weeks, we have voiced our concern about the decision to rush Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination through the committee without allowing senators or the American people to review his record,” the Democrats said in their letter.

“We also ask that, in light of this week’s developments, you postpone the hearing of Brett M. Kavanaugh to ensure that we have adequate information and time to evaluate his record.”

The Democrats were referring to the conviction last week of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort on eight counts related to bank and tax fraud, along with former Trump personal lawyer Michael Cohen’s plea deal with federal prosecutors. The Democrats believe those developments are another reason to delay the nomination.

Related: Brett Kavanaugh, Trump’s Supreme Court Pick: Everything You Must Know

Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and other Republicans on the panel view the Democrats’ constant calls for delay as nothing more than a partisan move. Republicans hold a narrow 51-49 majority in the Senate, but 10 Democrat incumbents are seeking re-election in red states Trump carried handily in 2016.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is also pushing to get copies of an estimated 1 million documents from when Kavanaugh worked for former President George W. Bush in the White House.

Kavanaugh worked as a senior associate counsel and assistant before Bush appointed him to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 2006. Schumer said lawmakers shouldn’t sit down with him and the process should be delayed until his full record is revealed.

Schumer also threatened to sue the National Archives for the documents.

Related: Schumer Reaches for Kavanaugh Delay with Cohen Plea Deal

Attorney Bill Burck has been reviewing the Bush-era documents to be released to the committee. Feinstein issued a statement Monday asking Burck to explain all redactions and alterations to the documents previously given to the committee.

Grassley claims Kavanaugh submitted the most robust bipartisan committee questionnaire ever by a judicial nominee, at roughly 17,000 pages.

Grassley also said the committee already received over 200,000 documents from Kavanaugh’s White House period.

A Quinnipiac University Poll found that 44 percent of voters support Kavanaugh’s nomination, while 39 percent oppose him. The survey was conducted from August 9 to 13.