SCOTUS | Committee Democrats Continue Delay Tactics with Volume of Written Questions for Kavanaugh
Kavanaugh receives more written questions than every Supreme Court nominee in history combined
WASHINGTON
– As the Senate
Judiciary Committee continues its work reviewing the nomination of Judge Brett
M. Kavanaugh to serve as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the
United States, committee Democrats – all of whom are expected to vote against
Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination – continue their meritless obstruction campaign by
issuing an unprecedented 1,278 written questions for the record to the nominee.
This is more than the combined number of written questions submitted to
every prior Supreme Court nominee in the entire history of the United States.
“Last week, Judge Kavanaugh sat before the Senate Judiciary Committee for well over 32 hours of statements and questions. In just the same way I handled the Gorsuch hearing, members had the opportunity to ask as many questions they wanted to ask,” Chairman Grassley said. “Submitting this many written questions appears to be just one more effort to gum up the process. It’s unnecessary and dilatory, especially when many have already decided to vote against Judge Kavanaugh. What more do they need to know to vote ‘no’?”
After every
nominations hearing held by the committee—from lower court to Supreme Court
nominees, members can submit written questions for the record (QFRs). Since the
Senate began taking testimony for Supreme Court nominations, only 1,247 questions for the record have
ever been submitted. Here’s a breakdown of the number of questions
members of the minority sent to Judge Kavanaugh.
-
Ranking
Member Feinstein (“ready
to lead the anti-Kavanaugh brigade”) submitted 241 questions for the record
-
Senator
Leahy submitted (indicated
opposition) 117 questions
for the record
-
Senator
Durbin submitted (indicated
opposition) 128 questions
for the record
-
Senator
Whitehouse (announced
he’s voting ‘no’) submitted 161
questions for the record
-
Senator
Klobuchar (indicated
opposition) submitted 14
questions for the record
-
Senator
Coons (indicated
opposition) submitted 192
questions for the record
-
Senator
Blumenthal (announced
he’s voting ‘no’) submitted 100
questions for the record
-
Senator
Hirono (announced
she’s voting ‘no’) submitted 122
questions for the record
-
Senator
Booker (announced he’s
voting ‘no’) submitted 90
questions for the record
-
Senator
Harris (announced
she’s voting ‘no’) submitted 113
questions for the record
As they
did last week, Democrats appear to be seeking a sideshow instead of
senatorial deliberation. On Friday, Chairman Grassley wrote that this opposition
is failing because it’s meritless.
Historical
breakdowns on the number of written questions for Supreme Court nominees
follows.
Historical
QFR Practice
Kavanaugh Total QFRs: 1287
All other SCOTUS nominees
who testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee,
Total QFRs: 1247
|
Nominee
|
#
QFRs
|
|
Nominee
|
#
QFRs
|
|
Kavanaugh (2018)
|
1287
|
|
White (1962)
|
0
|
|
Gorsuch (2017)
|
324
|
|
Stewart (1959)
|
0
|
|
Kagan (2010)
|
210
|
|
Whittaker (1957)
|
0
|
|
Sotomayor (2009)
|
214
|
|
Brennan (1957)
|
0
|
|
Alito (2006)
|
99
|
|
Harlan II (1955)
|
0
|
|
Roberts (2005)
|
231
|
|
Warren (1954)
|
0
|
|
Breyer (1994)
|
5
|
|
Minton (1949)
|
0
|
|
Ginsburg (1993)
|
20
|
|
Clark (1949)
|
0
|
|
Thomas (1991)
|
18
|
|
Vinson (1946)
|
0
|
|
Souter (1990)
|
4
|
|
Burton (1945)
|
0
|
|
Kennedy (1987)
|
47
|
|
Rutledge (1943)
|
0
|
|
Bork (1987)
|
15
|
|
Jackson (1941)
|
0
|
|
Rehnquist (1986 CJ, 1971)
|
44
|
|
Byrnes (1941)
|
0
|
|
Scalia (1986)
|
3
|
|
Stone (1941)
|
0
|
|
O’Connor (1981)
|
8
|
|
Murphy (1940)
|
0
|
|
Stevens (1975)
|
5
|
|
Douglas (1939)
|
0
|
|
Powell (1971)
|
0
|
|
Frankfurter (1939)
|
0
|
|
Blackmun (1970)
|
0
|
|
Reed (1938)
|
0*
|
|
Carswell (1970)
|
0
|
|
Cardozo (1932)
|
0*
|
|
Haynsworth (1969)
|
0
|
|
Parker (1930)
|
0*
|
|
Burger (1969)
|
0
|
|
Stone (1925)
|
0
|
|
Thornberry (1968)
|
0
|
|
Butler (1922)
|
0*
|
|
Fortas (1965, 1968)
|
0
|
|
Brandeis (1916)
|
0*
|
|
Marshall (1968)
|
0
|
|
Williams (1873)
|
0*
|
|
Goldberg (1962)
|
0
|
|
Total
Other QFRs:
|
1247
|
* No testimony from nominee
at hearing or in QFRs.
Overview of QFRs per Nominee
Kavanaugh
QFRs: TOTAL = 1287
Grassley:
8
Coons:
192
Durbin:
128
Feinstein:
241
Flake:
1
Harris:
113
Hirono:
122
Leahy:
117
Klobuchar:
14
Whitehouse:
161
Blumenthal:
100
Booker:
90
Gorsuch
QFRs:
TOTAL = 324
Blumenthal:
50
Coons:
43
Durbin:
3
Feinstein:
100
Franken:
27
Hirono:
42
Leahy:
33
Whitehouse:
26
Kagan
QFRs: TOTAL = 210
Grassley:
27
Sessions:
88
Cornyn:
45
Coburn:
20
Graham:
8
Kyl:
22
Sotomayor
QFRs: TOTAL = 214
Cornyn:
19
Coburn:
32
Grassley:
62
Sessions:
98
Kyl:
3
Roberts
QFRs: TOTAL = 231
Biden:
19
Brownback:
7
Feingold:
5
Feinstein:
13
Kennedy:
101
Kyl:
1
Leahy:
17 (8 submitted on behalf of Sen. Levin)
Feinstein
for Mikulski: 17
Schumer:
51
Alito
QFRs: TOTAL = 99
Biden:
11
Durbin:
22
Kennedy:
2
Leahy:
1
Levin:
14
Schumer:
45
Feingold:
2
Ginsburg
QFRs: TOTAL = 20
Biden:
3
Thurmond:
4
Kohl:
1
Pressler:
12
Breyer
QFRs: TOTAL = 5
Simpson
(for Warner): 5
Souter
QFRs: TOTAL = 4
Levin:
4
Thomas
QFRs: TOTAL = 18
Biden:
5
Levin:
11
Byrd:
2
Kennedy
QFRs: TOTAL = 47
Biden:
6
DeConcini:
10
Heflin:
4
Simon:
23
Levin:
4
Bork QFRs:
TOTAL = 15
Biden: 4
Weicker: 1
Leahy: 1
Byrd: 7
Simon: 1
Metzenbaum: 1
Levin:
8 (Chief Justice Hearing)
Bayh,
Hart, Kennedy (joint questions): 36
Scalia
QFRs: TOTAL = 3
Levin:
3
O’Connor
QFRs: TOTAL = 8
Humphrey:
8
Stevens
QFRs: TOTAL =5
McClellan:
5
Powell
QFRs: TOTAL = 0
No
QFRs
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