Democrat 2020 presidential hopefuls Sens. Kamala Harris (CA) and Cory Booker (NJ) made strident attempts to halt Tuesday’s Senate Judiciary hearing on the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Booker and Harris each made attempts to be recognized out of order in attempts to have the hearing adjourned.
Sen. Harris repeatedly interjected “Mr. Chairman” before asking to be recognized to ask a question before proceedings continued. “The committee received just last night–15 hours ago–42,000 pages of documents that we have not had an opportunity to review or read or analyze.”
Grassley told Sen. Harris that she was “out of order.”
“We cannot possibly move forward, Mr. Chairman, with this hearing,” she continued, interrupting the proceedings. Other Democrats continued to attempt to interrupt. Sen. Richard Blumenthal broke in and called for the hearing to adjourn, sparking a group in the audience to cheer loudly:
Protesters screamed out from the audience many times throughout the morning proceedings.
“Mr. Chairman, may I be recognized?” pleaded New Jersey Democrat Sen. Booker, a rumored 2020 hopeful.
“You’re out of order,” Grassley responded again.
Booker, instead, continued to interrupt in attempts “to be recognized,” claiming he was doing so based on Grassley’s “sense of decency and integrity.” He declared even documents Grassley has requested had not yet been received by the committee. “The documents we have, sir, have limited committee confident…”
Grassley repeatedly reprimanded Booker for speaking out of order as a gavel could be heard tapping.
“This committee, sir, is a violation of even the values I’ve heard you talk about time and time again,” Booker blasted. “What is the rush?” said Booker as he assailed the privacy of certain documents.
“We are rushing through this process in a way that is unnecessary,” claimed Booker as he continued in a filibuster-like tirade and attempt to force a vote and debate on the issue of certain documents not provided and provided to the committee, some of which have been deemed to remain private.
Booker accused Grassley of a lack of transparency regarding the documents and claimed the process was being rushed. He repeatedly called for a vote and discussion on issues Democrats were using as the basis for halting the confirmation hearing.
Chairman Grassley remarked that Booker’s demands for a vote may only be authorized by the committee when the committee is in executive session, which the committee was not. Several senators remarked that the volume of interruptions during Tuesday’s hearing was unprecedented:
Michelle Moons is a White House Correspondent for Breitbart News — follow on Twitter @MichelleDiana and Facebook.
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