Democrats have a new plan for defeating Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation: keeping silent and waiting to see if Republicans can find 50 votes in the Senate.
Democratic opposition to Gina Haspel’s appointment to lead the CIA collapsed after Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., revealed in a televised interview that he was planning to vote for her confirmation. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., reportedly wants to avoid a repeat of that mistake.
“I think after the hearings I’m going to know, because I’ll have another meeting, probably, if there are any discrepancies from his first meeting and the hearings,” Manchin told Politico. “I’m not dragging.”
“All Chuck ever says in caucus [meetings], it’s pretty well known: ‘Keep your powder dry. Don’t commit. Stay as neutral as you can, as long as you can,’” Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said. “It gives him some room to maneuver.”
“If you’re in the business of trying to defeat Kavanaugh, then of course it’s helpful to have Democrats who are undecided keep their powder dry for as long as possible,” added Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. “We’re trying to make sure that people have the space in our caucus to do the right thing for their states.”
Schumer is “waiting to see us put 50 on the board and then he’ll cut his folks loose that need to vote for him,” according to Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, the third-ranking Republican in the Senate and a friend of Schumer’s.
“I don’t think [Democrats in red states] can hold out very long.”
“If you’re running for reelection in a red state won by President Trump ... your priority is going to be survival,” said Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas. “I would assume that people would begin to say: ‘Based on my review, based on my meeting with the judge, I’m comfortable supporting him.’”
Schumer has targeted two Republicans as weak points on Kavanaugh: Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.
Murkowski has yet to meet with Kavanaugh, but reportedly hopes to speak with him for as long as two hours before deciding whether to support him, much longer than other GOP senators.
“I have to do my own due diligence as a senator. And if that means that I take longer than others, I’m OK with that,” Murkowski told Politico. “I don't make any apologies for being too thorough.”