The Capitol Hill publication Roll Call reports today that Arlen Specter has given notice (subscription required) that the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote Thursday to send the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Senate floor:
Less than three hours later, Specter emerged from a meeting in Majority Leader Bill Frist’s (R-Tenn.) office and declared that there would be a committee vote Thursday on a quintessentially controversial nominee, White House Secretary Brett Kavanaugh. He was a deputy to Kenneth Starr during his tenure as independent counsel investigating the Clinton White House.
Specter predicted a “party-line vote” in favor of Kavanaugh, sending the nominee to the floor in what could be the first real showdown involving a potential Democratic filibuster since last May’s “Gang of 14” deal settled that issue. Kavanaugh, notably at the time, was not mentioned in that deal that averted attempts to end filibusters.
But, back in the committee Tuesday, there was no talk of filibusters or the “nuclear option.” There weren’t even any tough questions. Hatch did little more than ask the handful of nominees to introduce their families.
The great bulk of the article is about the non-controversial hearing the Committee held yesterday on other nominees.
It's good to see that Frist is moving forward on stalled nominees. As others have noted, the key now is to make sure that Frist guarantees that this debate receives the public attention it warrants, rather than becoming a late-night sideshow.
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