Three Republican senators weigh in on delaying Kavanaugh vote

“She should not be ignored or insulted. She should testify under oath, and she should do it on Capitol Hill”.

The allegation now threatens to inject a potentially heated “he said-she said” battle into the looming midterm congressional elections, with Republican control of the House of Representatives and the Senate at stake. “In this case, that would entail phone calls with at least Judge Kavanaugh and Dr. Ford”.

That upsets the GOP’s plans to hold a confirmation vote on the Senate floor early next week, in time to have the judge on the high court in time for the start of the new session the first Monday in October. After her story began to leak, she changed her mind and made a decision to go public. Yet, he understands why she didn’t, given the senator’s “cautious” nature and the fact that the writer wanted strict anonymity.

In July, Ford reached out to her congresswoman, Rep. Anna Eshoo, and Sen. Ford said she had sought anonymity, but as portions of her story emerged without her consent, decided that she should be the one to tell it. She alleges that Kavanaugh and a friend – both “stumbling drunk” – corralled her into a bedroom during a party.

“Judge Kavanaugh looks forward to a hearing where he can clear his name of this false allegation”.

“This has not changed”, said White House spokesman Kerri Kupec on Monday.

Because Trump’s fellow Republicans control a slim 51-49 majority in the Senate, Democrats can not stop Kavanaugh’s appointment unless some Republicans make a rare decision to break with their party and vote against Trump. Meanwhile, Sen. Lindsey Graham of SC said he would “gladly listen” to Ford’s account in person so the confirmation process can continue as scheduled. Ford said, “Why suffer through the annihilation if it’s not going to matter?” A Republican not on the committee, Sen.

Police in Montgomery County, Maryland, where Ms. Ford says the incident took place, said Monday they have not heard from any alleged victim and so they aren’t investigating.

Lawmakers from both sides of the USA political divide have called for a delay in the vote on the nominee for the powerful Supreme Court. Critics have already accused the GOP of fast-tracking the process to get Kavanaugh on the court by October 1, the first day of the fall term. Don’t be silly. From the moment the allegation against Kavanaugh broke into wide circulation, the battle lines were already drawn.

In a round of television interviews early on Monday, Ford’s Washington-based lawyer, Debra Katz, said her client would be willing to speak out publicly. “These are all the ills that I was trying to avoid”.

Moderate senators from both parties had argued that Judge Kavanaugh and Prof Ford should be given the chance to testify before the panel. “They want activists who will impose their own left win policy agenda and set aside the decisions of democratically elected legislatures”, he said.

The Republican majority, however, has raised questions about the timing of Ford’s claims.

Bloomberg News’ Laura Litvan reports that Hatch was then asked how he would feel about Kavanaugh’s nomination if it turned out that the allegations were true, and Hatch replied that “if that were true, I think it would be hard for senators not to consider who he is today”.

Republicans have not settled on the strategy, the person familiar with the situation said, but were weighing options, including doing nothing.

Mr Flake is one of 11 Republicans on the committee, whose 10 Democrats all oppose Mr Kavanaugh.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Sen.

Both have indicated they are willing to testify about the allegations.