--- title: Senate Committee Officially Postpones Brett Kavanaugh Vote description: The Senate Judiciary Committee officially cancelled a meeting set for this week to vote on Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination canonical: https://time.com/5400181/brett-kavanaugh-supreme-court-confirmation-vote-cancel/ author: Mahita Gajanan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-09-18T22:53:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:03:58.709Z article:section: Politics og:title: Senate Judiciary Committee Officially Delays Brett Kavanaugh's Confirmation Vote Amid Sexual Assault Allegations og:description: The Committee was expected to delay the vote after announcing a public hearing with Kavanaugh and Ford next week og:url: https://time.com/5400181/brett-kavanaugh-supreme-court-confirmation-vote-cancel/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt604f0fc679e2f28a/69893a94db2987422e260b89/brett-kavanaugh-vote-meeting.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5853 og:image:height: 3292 og:image:alt: Senate Holds Confirmation Hearing For Brett Kavanaugh To Be Supreme Court Justice og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Senate Judiciary Committee Officially Delays Brett Kavanaugh's Confirmation Vote Amid Sexual Assault Allegations twitter:description: The Committee was expected to delay the vote after announcing a public hearing with Kavanaugh and Ford next week twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt604f0fc679e2f28a/69893a94db2987422e260b89/brett-kavanaugh-vote-meeting.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Senate Judiciary Committee Officially Delays Brett Kavanaugh's Confirmation Vote Amid Sexual Assault Allegations > Sponsored content. 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Disputes along party lines becoming the new normal for Senate confirmations._ by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Sep 18, 2018 10:53 PM UTC  Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the third day of his confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill September 6, 2018 in Washington, DC. Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the third day of his confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill September 6, 2018 in Washington, DC. Drew Angerer—Getty Images by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Sep 18, 2018 10:53 PM UTC The Senate Judiciary Committee officially cancelled a originally meeting set this week to vote on [Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination](http://time.com/5400037/trump-brett-kavanaugh-allegations-response/) amid sexual assault allegations against the judge. The cancellation of the meeting, which will delay the vote that would advance Kavanaugh’s nomination, comes after [Christine Blasey Ford accused him of assaulting her](http://time.com/5397627/brett-kavanaugh-sexual-assault/) at a high school party in the 1980s. The Committee was expected to delay the vote after [announcing Monday that it will hold a public hearing](http://www.time.com/5398806/senate-public-hearing-kavanaugh-accuser-christine-blasey-ford/) with Kavanaugh and Ford next week. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley did not immediately say when the panel will vote on Kavanaugh’s nomination. The cancelled meeting was initially scheduled for Sept. 20 at 9:30 a.m. Ford alleges that Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed at a house party when they were teenagers and tried to remove her clothes against her will. Kavanaugh, who has denied the allegations against him, said he was willing to talk to the Senate Judiciary Committee about [Ford’s claim](http://time.com/5398157/brett-kavanaugh-assault-allegation/). Ford has not yet confirmed whether she will attend the public hearing next Monday, [the New York _Times_ reports](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/18/us/politics/christine-blasey-ford-kavanaugh-senate-hearing.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage). ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] The dramatic confirmation hearings for Judge Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court reveal a new status quo for how modern day justice Justices are confirmed. The hearings have been a highly partisan spectacle with both party's political goals taking center stage. If Kavanagh is confirmed by the Republican lead Senate, the conservative leaning judge from the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit would cement a conservative majority on the high High court for the next generation. But despite their Senate minority status, the Democrats have made it clear that they're not going to just roll over during the process. Time and again they've tried to shut down the hearing by complaining that Republicans are withholding documents around Kavanaugh's extensive legal career. And Need to press the candidate for his viewpoints on abortion rights, affirmative action, and other major social issues. Can you think of any laws that give the government the power to make decisions about the male body? Trump claims he has an absolute right to pardon himself, does he? Meanwhile, Republicans have accused Democrats of political grandstanding Grandstanding as they race to confirm Kavanaugh before the Supreme Court session begins in October. And well before midterms in November to ensure they hold the high courts swing seat. Unfortunately we have all these interest groups screaming from the sidelines and putting pressure on my Democratic collegues to make this hearing about politics. To make it about pretty much anything except Judge Kavanaugh and his qualifications. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg provided a scathing critique of the poppin show as of late saying this at George Washington University. Adversity. The way it was was right. The way it is is wrong. Think of Justice Scoliea who's certainly a known character. The vote was unanimous, every Democrat and every Republican voted for him. But that's they way it should be. Instead of where this has become a highly partisan show. Bug Ginsburg's remarks came prior to Christine Basley Ford's allegation that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her at a party in the 1980s when they were both teenagers in high school. Kavanaugh denied these allegations saying, this is a completely false allegation. I have never done anything like what the accuser described. To her Or to anyone. The Senate Judiciary Committee moved to push back Kavanaugh's hearing timeline to hold a public hearing on September 24th so both Kavanaugh and Ford can share their testimony on the assault allegations. But the date is not set, because Ford wants a full investigation by law enforcement officials before any senate hearing. Previously, Justice Clarence Thomas' confirmation in 1991 stood alone as one of the most Contentious in U. S. history. The allegations against Kavanaugh draw additional eerie parallels to Thomas's confirmation. Then- nominee Thomas was accused by his former aide, Anita Hill, for sexual harassment. Hill testified Before the Senate judiciary committee and became the face of what was at the time arguably the biggest sexual harrasment case the country ever saw. But conservative Thomas still won the confirmation with a 52 to 48 vote. At at time when the Senate was controlled by Democrats. Since then, there's been a consistent decline in the number of senators willing to cross party lines to confirm a Supreme Court nominee. In 1993, President Clinton's nominee, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg won with a 96 to 3 vote. In 2005 President George W. Bush's nominee, Chief Justice John G Roberts Roberts Jr. won on a 78- 22 vote. In 2009, President Obama's nominee Justice Sonia Sotomayor won on a 68- 31 vote. And last year, Gorsuch, President Trump's nominee, won by a 54- 45 vote. Senators from both major parties often share their desire for a neutral judge who will follow the law and rule fairly without bias. Is. But their actions tell a different story. In July of 2016, Republicans joined together to block even a hearing for Chief Judge Merrick Garland, of the D. C. Circuit Court of Appeals, who is regarded as highly qualified and was Obama's nominee. The shift from bipartisan governing, and increasingly polarized Supreme Court nominations are what some say is the result of an unhealthy Healthy trend in congress. Nebraska republican senator Ben Sasse summarized the dilemma. Is that this transfer of power means the people yearn for a place where politics can actually be done, and when we don't do a lot of big Through a political debating here. We transfer it to the supreme court. And that's why the supreme court is increasingly a substitute political battle ground in America. It is not healthy, but it is what happen. And it's something that our founders wouldn't be able to make. Make any sense of. 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