WFHB Bloomington Community Radio
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Senator (D-IN) Joe Donnelly met with Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, earlier today.
Donnelly, a first-term incumbent Democrat, announced the meeting with the SCOTUS nominee yesterday afternoon. Kavanaugh is the second Supreme Court Justice nominated by President Trump, Neil Gorsuch was approved earlier this year. A press release from Donnelly’s office stated he is using the same approach he did for Neil Gorsuch’s nomination.
Donnelly was one of three Democratic Senators to vote to confirm Gorsuch, earlier this year. All three Senators who voted to confirm Gorsuch were Democrats up for re-election in states that voted for Trump, during the 2016 presidential election. Donnelly faces pressure from Republicans to confirm Kavanaugh, while Democrats are petitioning him to vote against Kavanaugh’s appointment to the nation’s highest court.
Donnelly reportedly spoke with Kavanaugh about his judicial philosophy, and his experience in the George W. Bush administration.
“I take my responsibility as [a] Senator to consider Supreme Court nominees very seriously and will continue a thorough review of Judge Kavanaugh’s record and plan to follow his Senate Judiciary Committee hearing closely,” Donnelly’s statement read. “Hoosiers rightly expect careful and thoughtful consideration of a nomination to our nation’s highest court, and I plan to keep doing my homework and make a decision sometime after Kavanaugh’s committee confirmation hearing.”
Judge Kavanaugh’s hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to begin on September 4.
Donnelly faces Republican Senate candidate Mike Braun during this Fall’s mid-term election. If confirmed, Kavanaugh would replace Justice Anthony Kennedy, giving Republicans a majority of Supreme Court seats.
EDIT: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Kavanaugh would replace Justice John Roberts. It has since been corrected.
