CINCINNATI (AP) — Ohio’s Democratic U.S. senator says Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is rushing the Supreme Court confirmation process because he fears more negative publicity will surface about the nominee.
UPDATE: 10/5/18 11:01 a.m.: The Senate voted 51-49 to move forward with Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court, voting to limit debate so a final vote could occur over the weekend.
Sherrod Brown says the Republican from neighboring Kentucky is “afraid that other things come out” about Judge Brett Kavanaugh. He says the FBI investigation this week after last week’s contentious Senate Judiciary Committee hearing doesn’t sound like it’s going to be thorough.
Republican Rob Portman has already voiced his support for Kavanaugh’s nomination.
McConnell says Democrats have been trying to “move the goal posts” for Kavanaugh’s confirmation and that senators will have the opportunity to vote for Kavanaugh and against “the politics of personal destruction.”
Brown spoke Wednesday in a conference call with reporters ahead of a Saturday women’s leadership forum at Xavier University in Cincinnati that features Sen. Kamala Harris, D-California.