Advertisement

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

Democrats Grilling Kavanaugh Have Their Eyes on 2020

Senator Kamala Harris questioned Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh during his Supreme Court confirmation hearing on Wednesday.Credit...Erin Schaff for The New York Times

WASHINGTON — The questioning of Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh had not even begun Thursday morning when Senator Cory Booker, Democrat of New Jersey, threatened to release secret emails — even if it meant being expelled from the Senate.

“This is about the closest I’ll ever come in my life to an ‘I am Spartacus’ moment,” the senator declared with a flourish.

It was a made-for-television moment — albeit later mocked by Republicans as grandstanding — and for Mr. Booker, it might come in handy. He is one of three Democrats on the Judiciary Committee — the others are Senators Kamala D. Harris of California and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota — said to be contemplating presidential runs in 2020, and there is no time like a stately, nationally televised Supreme Court nomination hearing to grab the attention of the news media and amass valuable footage for future campaign commercials.

Other 2020 hopefuls, notably Senators Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, have been making their own moves this week. Ms. Gillibrand, who has positioned herself as a leading advocate for women’s rights, has been appearing with women’s groups to protest the nomination, calling it “a clear threat to rights that women all across America hold dear.”

And Ms. Warren, notoriously press shy in the corridors of the Capitol, told Politico on Wednesday that she intended to “open up” and start giving hallway interviews.

But for Ms. Harris and Mr. Booker — and to a lesser extent, Ms. Klobuchar, who is less given to high drama — the hearings have been something like a campaign audition, not to mention the criticism that goes along with it.

Image
Senator Cory Booker disclosed that the committee had a confidential email titled “racial profiling” relating to Judge Kavanaugh.Credit...T.J. Kirkpatrick for The New York Times

“Running for president is no excuse for violating the rules of the Senate or of confidentiality of the documents that we are privy to,” Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, snapped after Mr. Booker made his threat about the emails. (It turned out that Mr. Booker had permission to make those messages public after all, prompting another Republican, Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, to quip, “You didn’t have to be Spartacus.”)

It did not take long — just 13 words into the start of the first day of the hearings — for Ms. Harris to make her mark. The chairman of the Judiciary Committee had just gaveled hearings to order and was about to utter his 14th word when the California senator interrupted, demanding a delay to give the panel time to review a last-minute document dump.

“We cannot possibly move forward,” she protested, as the chairman, Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, promptly ruled her out of order.

Throughout the hearings, Ms. Harris, once the California attorney general, drew on her formidable skills as a former prosecutor to repeatedly skewer Judge Kavanaugh and back him into unpleasant corners.

“Can you think of any laws that give the government the power to make decisions about the male body?” she asked at one point, in an exchange that picked up considerable traction on social media.

The judge seemed flustered. “I’m not — I’m not — thinking of any right now, senator,” he replied.

Mr. Booker, for his part, proved his skills at oratory; on Wednesday night, he talked for 23 of the 30 minutes he was allotted to question Judge Kavanaugh, delivering a soaring lecture on racial inequality — even as he repeatedly cut off the nominee while grilling him about his views on affirmative action, racial profiling and voter identification laws.

“It seems that you are O.K. with using race to single out some Americans for extra security measures because they look different, but you’re not O.K. with using race to help promote diversity,” Mr. Booker said at one point, while disclosing that the committee had a confidential email titled “racial profiling” relating to Judge Kavanaugh.

Image
Senator Amy Klobuchar is one of three senators on the Judiciary Committee said to be contemplating a run for president in 2020.Credit...T.J. Kirkpatrick for The New York Times

For Mr. Booker and Ms. Harris, both darlings of the progressive movement, the hearings are also a chance to demonstrate fidelity to the left. Progressives have become increasingly frustrated with the way Senate Democrats are handling Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination; on Wednesday, more than a dozen groups sent a scathing letter to Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, accusing him of allowing moderate Democrats to go their own way in considering whether to vote for confirmation.

“Anything less than 49 Democratic votes against Kavanaugh would be a massive failure of your leadership,” read the letter, organized by Credo Action, which bills itself as a social-change network.

Republicans, on the other hand, are accusing the Democrats of playing politics with one of the most sacred duties of the Senate: the responsibility to advise and consent on a Supreme Court nomination.

Mr. Booker came under withering criticism on Wednesday when he sent a letter to supporters asking for signatures opposing Judge Kavanaugh. The letter, which circulated on Twitter, asked recipients to click through to a website that offered tickets to a coming New Jersey Democratic State Committee event.

Then, on Thursday, Ms. Harris sent out her own fund-raising email, spotlighting her does-the-government-have-the-power-to-regulate-the-male-body exchange with Judge Kavanaugh.

“I know you’re standing with me in this fight, and I appreciate everything you’ve done so far,” the missive said, above a bright red link that declared, in all caps, Contribute. Republicans sneered.

As Mr. Cornyn, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, wrote on Twitter, “It is all about the 2020 Democrat presidential primary.”

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section A, Page 19 of the New York edition with the headline: A Stage and a Spotlight for Democrats Contemplating 2020 Ambitions. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

Advertisement

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT