We have not, as far as I can tell, had any interruptions since the lunch break.
Sasse: The solution is not judges who will be policy-makers. The solution is a proper constitutional order.
Sasse: Question before us today is not about Kavanaugh's views from the past, and whether he has the temperament and character to put aside his policy views. If you don't think he has the character for that, vote no. Otherwise, stop the charade.
Kavanaugh: It's not that he doesn't like clean air or water, but he doesn't like lazy legislators.
Grassley: Over 1000 delegations in the Affordable Care Act.
Sen. Chris Coons, D-Delaware now up
Coons: We are not here to consider whether you've been a great youth basketball coach. We are considering you for a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court. We have to understand how you might interpret our Constitution.
Coons: After Scalia's death, I urged President Obama to choose a nominee that could be approved of by both sides. He did that. But Republicans refused to even consider Merrick Garland.
Coons: Justice Gorsuch confirmed to the court in one of the most partisan processes in American history, after the Republicans used the nuclear option to get rid of the filibuster.
Coons: I asked the White House this time for a nominee who could unite across aisles. I am not convinced that you are that nominee.
Coons: The nonpartisan National Archives has been cut out of the process for reviewing and producing your records.
Coons: For first time, executive privilege to prevent release of documents. What are the president and the majority trying to hide?
Coons: I support the motions made by my colleagues earlier today and regret that we have continued in violation of committee rules. (Sen. Blumenthal had moved to adjourn the meeting for more time to review Kavanaugh's records.)
Coons: You recently praised Justice Rehnquist's dissent in Roe (Coons also mentioned other issues he disagrees with Kavanaugh as well)
Coons: I am concerned that your writing display a hostility to affirmative action and civil rights. Coons also returns to the issue of presidential power.
Coons: The context of your nomination troubles me the most.
Coons: We have to wonder whether President Trump selected you with an idea toward protecting himself from criminal indictment.
Sen. Durbin proposed a bold step, for you to suspend this hearing until more documents available. I urge you to answer our questions about your prior work, Coons says.
Coons: I have been to hearings in which nominees promised to uphold the rule of law, only for them on the bench to scuttle long-standing precedent.
Coons quotes Sen. John McCain. What makes us exceptional are our founding ideals, that we live under the rule of law.
Coons: We are here to determine to whether you would transform the court into a body more conservative than the majority of Americans.
Grassley: I looked at your record on the DC Circuit. 94% of the matters you heard were decided unanimously.
Grassley: Presidential Records Act gives President Bush authority to review his records before the Senate receives them. This is what Bush has done, and National Archives does not have authority to second-guess his decision.
Sen. Jeff Flake, Republican of Arizona, now up.
Flake: Standard for documents is what is "relevant and probative." We get this from your time on the DC Circuit.
Flake: We can see your character by the life you've lived outside the courtroom.
Flake: I'm sure you're looking forward to this weekend when the Redskins and Cardinals play.
Flake: Completing two marathons demonstrates your competitive spirit, purpose and commitment. You have no greater commitment than to your family, your wife, your two daughters.
Kavanaugh smiles when Flake makes a joke about Kavanaugh's having run the Boston Marathon twice.
Flake is stressing personal attributes and praise Kavanaugh has received from those in his personal life.
Flake: On DC Circuit, you've earned a reputation from both sides of the aisle as a careful judge.
Flake: We need to look to your opinions on the DC Circuit to see how you will be a judge.
Flake: There is concern on the other side about an administration that does not appreciate the rule of law. I have that concern as well.
Flake, among those Republicans who has criticized Trump, is citing recent tweets from Trump criticizing Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
Sessions has resisted pressure from the president to punish his enemies and help his friends, Flake says. It is important to know where you think Article I powers end and Article II powers begin. (Article I in the Constitution is about Congress, Article II about the executive branch.)
Sen. Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, now up.
Blumenthal: I want to thank Americans in this room watching across country for their interest and their passion. That is what sustains democracy, the commitment of ordinary Americans.
Blumenthal: People are wearing shirts around the building that say, "I am what's at stake."
Flake may have been the rare senator who did not use all of his time.
Many of the audience members who were taken out of the room were wearing these shirts that Blumenthal is mentioning. Another shirt, in the same grey color, says, "I had an abortion."
Blumenthal now mentions the same tweets Flake brought up.
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who attended the morning session, does not appear to have returned. It is not uncommon for well-connected VIPs to slip in and out of these big hearings.
Blumenthal: I've had my disagreements with the Department of Justice. I want to urge the DOJ to stand strong and hold fast against this onslaught that threatens the basic principles of our democracy. (These are tweets about cases being brought against two Republicans that Sessions, in Trump's apparent view, has not done enough to limit in his authority as attorney general.)
Blumenthal: Your responses to our questions will be enlightening as to whether you join us in wanting to protect the judiciary. That president, an un-indicted co-conspirator, is the one who nominated you, who may pass vote on criminal charges brought against the president.
Blumenthal: Basic principle of Constitution -- no one can select judge in his own case. That's potentially what the president is doing here. That is a reason why this proceeding is so consequential.
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