Thread by @Hegemommy

Senate debate on the Kavanaugh nomination has begun. You can watch here if you're so inclined

floor.senate.gov/MediaPlayer.ph…

Sen. Sherrod Brown speaking now making his case against Kavanaugh.

What matters here, what really matters here is that we listen to women.

There is likely nothing new that will happen between now and the actual vote. Senators will make their cases and that's important. But expect these to speeches to be very on brand for each Senator.

Brown tying the Kavanaugh process to the ways in which the playing field is tilted against vulnerable people generally and specifically what the impact will be for his constituents in Ohio

Brown now going through the cases in the pipeline that further risk collective bargaining rights and Kavanaugh's threat to employment rights

We can't trust him to stand with Ohio workers in any of these cases, Brown says

Brown now mentions the case Texas v US which is the conservative attack on the ACA. The Trump administration has decided not to defend the ACA and has encouraged the court to block its protections like the ban on pre-existing conditions

That would impact half of Ohio's residents

Brown now goes from the attack on health care generally to the attack on reproductive health care specifically without skipping a beat.

Brown concludes his remarks. There's likely going to be some dead air for a bit until somebody else strolls in

Sen Dan Sullivan (R-AK) up now and acknowledges both Collins and Murkowski.

Says he hopes the nation can go through a healing process after the Kavanaugh vote.

He's basically defending his vote to confirm to the people of Alaska

Sullivan and Kavanaugh served in the Bush administration together

Sullivan says he took very seriously the claims Kavanaugh would be terrible for the Alaskan native people and the sex assault allegations against Kavanaugh.

I put my heart and soul into investigating these claims, he says

Sullivan turns his attention to Dr. Ford's claims.

I respect very much Dr. Ford's bravery and sincerity he says. Is sure she went through something traumatic.

Alaska has the highest rates of sex assault in the country

Sullivan talking about his work on these issues.

One thing is clear to me, her [Dr. Ford's] allegations have been taken seriously

Sullivan now blasting Senate Democrats for not just going along with Judiciary Republicans' handling of the Ford and Ramirez allegations

Sullivan still talking. I had to go grab a snack and he's talking about false claims of sex assault so maybe I should have grabbed a beer too

The silver lining in this process is that there's a heightened awareness around sex assault

I mean it's not like we didn't know is existed before now. Unless there's political will Sullivan nothing changes

Says combatting sex assault shouldn't be a Democratic v. Republican issue

Hello sir, have you heard about the Violence Against Women Act? The one that will expire in December thanks to no Republican support?

Sullivan finished talking. More dead air for now

Or plenty of dead air then too, depending on how you look at it

Sen Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) up now

Starts with the advise and consent process the Senate is constitutionally required to undertake

Puts that in the context of Kavanaugh's ultra-partisan response to Dr. Ford's testimony

Lists all the people and institutions who have withdrawn their support of Kavanaugh.

Turns to key litmus tests for Trump judicial nominees:

Strike down the ACA and overturn Roe v. Wade

Now talking about Kavanaugh's deep ties to corporate interests and overall love of dark money spending

Van Hollen compares Ford and Kavanaugh's testimony and specifically notes Kavanaugh wasn't just partisan, he was untruthful

Van Hollen now ripping the FBI investigation and insistence by the GOP to "plow right through" the Kavanaugh nomination.

Taking the time to do it right would have put the entire nomination at risks, he says

Van Hollen reading letters from his constituents who shared their assault stories into the record. His voice waivers.

Now addressing Trump mocking Ford

When he mocked her he mocked every survivor of sexual abuse in the country, he says.

Yup. That was entirely the point.

Van Hollen concludes his remarks by noting that survivors are not partisan operatives which is a thing we have to say in this day and age

Sen. Hinoro up now

I am sick of this she says.

I'm sick of them trying to re-write Senate history

Hirono quotes Kavanaugh's own statement on Ford as a "political hit and revenge from the Clintons"

That Clintons line is still bananas

Hirono could cut anyone in that room with her looks right now

Hirono now going through all the corroborating evidence Ford had even without the FBI investigation

Hirono now talking about the power of women's rage and gives a shout out to @rtraister

Maybe we are sad about the very same things we are angry about, Hirono says.

I wept after Dr. Ford's testimony Hirono says.

Hirono talking about being an angry crier and I AM HERE FOR EVERY WORD OF THIS AS A FELLOW ANGRY CRIER

Hirono notes that women are in "no mood" to hide their tears as anything else than fury and rage right now

Hirono notes that most women who are not white and middle class have been angry for a real long time.

That is what I am left with. Anger. Fury. Disgust, Hirono says.

Me too, Sen. Hirono. Me too.

Men have to hold other men accountable, she says.

Blasts Hatch for telling protesters to "grow up" and that they were there to "enjoy themselves"

Calls Trump the mocker-in-chief

I will stay mad and let that anger propel us to change, Hirono says 🔥

Hirono closes by reading Debbie Ramirez's statement released earlier today

"We will not be silenced. We stand in truth and light."

That close made me cry.

Sen. Leahy up now

Leahy notes he's voted for more Republican nominated judges than almost any Republican Senator serving today

Calls Kavanaugh "relentlessly dishonest" in his Senate testimony

Says Kavanaugh is evading the truth to serve his own raw ambition

Leahy calls back to his false testimony in 2004 and 2006 and says the Senate is just learning about it now because of all the documents blocked from release by the White House and Senate Republicans

If 10% of his records have evidence of his dishonesty, what are the chances that the other 90% have no evidence of dishonesty?

I'm terrible at math and word problems but I'm going with 'zero'

Notes it took two years to get Kavanaugh confirmed to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals because Kavanaugh has always been a partisan

Leahy addressing the constraints put on the FBI investigation

Apologies I just got a phone call but Leahy is still talking about the compromised investigation

Leahy concludes by saying any other nominee would get confirmed but not so permanently taint the Senate and the Court

Sen. Bob Casey Jr (D-PA) now up to speak. Starts with health care and the threat to the ACA that Kavanaugh poses

Casey giving a forceful defense of Medicaid as a statement of values

Casey still on the threat Kavanaugh poses to health care and the fundamental stability of the health care system. This second part isn't discussed enough. Republicans are looking to blow up an entire marketplace for funsies and profit

Each of is is just one illness or injury away from having a pre-existing condition, Casey says.

130 million Americans have to worry about this nomination, he says

Casey now turns to the threat Kavanaugh plays to people with disabilities. Very glad to hear him focus in on this aspect of Kavanaugh's record

Casey concludes his remarks and now John Cornyn says they are voting "in a few moments" to confirm Kavanaugh and is complaining that it took so long

Cornyn is now going to tell us all how Kavanaugh is the real victim here

Cornyn again compares the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings to the McCarthy hearings.

Says Republicans bent over backwards to accommodate Dr. Ford

Cornyn says they respected Dr. Ford and treated her as they would want their wives and daughters and sisters treated which YES WE KNOW and that's not a good thing

Cornyn now flat out lying about the evidence Ford presented and basically calling her a liar.

Cornyn says the FBI had free range to contact anyone they wanted in their investigation 🤔🤔🤔

Now Cornyn says both Dr. Ford and Kavanaugh have been badly treated in this process.

But but but you also just said Republicans did everything right by her so which is it, man.

Cornyn calls political protests "mob rule" and I'd like to remind him that it is actually constitutionally protected free speech

Cornyn wants us to think about how hard this must have been for everyone who knows the "real Brett Kavanaugh"

Kavanaugh's opponents have no empathy, Cornyn says with a straight face

Cornyn is now very concerned about what the Kavanaugh nomination did to the integrity of the Senate 🙄

Cornyn pledges his good faith to try and restore the credibility of the Senate and I swear I heard a snort off camera

Cornyn says Kavanaugh "lets the chips fall where they may" and I think we just got our answer to all that weird debt Kavanaugh used to have

Cornyn is interrupted by a protester and the camera cuts away for a minute before Cornyn starts back up with "legitimizing mob rule"

We should send a message loud and clear that the United States will not be intimidated, Cornyn says.

More protesters interrupt and there's a lot of gaveling

Sen. Dick Durbin up and launches directly into the FBI investigation and sets the record straight on what Democrats asked for and participated in.

He is not pleased. Durbin doesn't get super heated but this is close

Durbin knows Kavanaugh well. He's fought his nomination to the DC Circuit because of partisanship. He's called Kavanaugh the "Forest Gump of Republican politics"

As an aside I love that Durbin flies into Midway airport instead of O'Hare

Durbin calls today's vote "a day of reckoning"

Durbin asks about the next nominee

"Will we follow the Merrick Garland plow it through playbook" he asks

Durbin addresses Grassley directly and says he has the power to restore the norms and traditions to the Judiciary Committee and he hopes he will

Turns to protests and "mob rule"

The decision that is about to be made is not being made by a 'mob' Durbin reminds his Republican colleagues

Durbin now directly addresses Dr. Ford and her family and thanks them and says he is genuinely sorry they were mocked by President Trump

Cornyn thanks survivors for their courage

Tomorrow is another day, he says concluding his remarks

Sen. Grassley is the next to speak.

Good afternoon to everyone but Charles Grassley

Democratic leaders did everything they could to make Kavanaugh's nomination about anything other than Kavanaugh's record Grassley says in all seriousness

I'm going to make a bold prediction that Grassley gets shouty and defensive

Calls the allegations a "smear campaign" with "baseless allegations"

Grassley says nobody has a better judicial record on anything than Kavanaugh, Grassley says.

Kavanaugh has a well-earned reputation for collegiality, Grassley says

unrelated or maybe totally related but I'm still in my pajamas

Grassley now talking about all of Kavanaugh's law clerks, does not mention Amy Chua suggesting candidates wear short skirts to interview with him

Grassley notes that Kavanaugh's entire class of law clerks at SCOTUS will be all women and if that doesn't send a chill up your spine ....

Grassley now shouting about how mean everyone was to Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas and the "character assassination" these fine men were subjected to

On that note Grassley closes and now it Sen Joh Kyl (R-AZ) steps in to thank Collins for her statement yesterday.

Kyl was responsible for herding the Kavanaugh nomination through the Senate and now that he was tapped to replace McCain, gets to vote for his confirmation

And with that we are about 20 minutes away from a final vote as Kyle finishes and Senators start to fill in for the roll call

Sen. Chuck Schumer up now and I hope someone asks him what happened with Manchin, man.

That should have been an easy vote to whip and keep a unified Democratic front of opposition

Schumer giving a list of all the reasons why Kavanaugh shouldn't be on the bench and uses the phrase "ignominius partisan speech"

If you want to vindicate the sacrifice of Dr. Ford and other survivors, then vote Schumer says

Schumer done speaking

Sen. McConnell up now and seriously does he always have a mouth full of marbles?

When I think of Scalia's "argle bargle" line all I hear is McConnell's voice

McConnell praising Kavanaugh's kindness and collegiality which he showed all these men in private sessions, apparently

McConnell now praising Collins because they all know it was a white woman who delivered them this victory

McConnell finishes his speech and time to vote

Vice President Pence is gaveling the vote to order as protests erupt

Pence smirks with pleasure as protesters get carried out. He really relishes this role

I can't see what is happening but it sounds BANANAS and intense

Republicans have cast one vote

Vote continues and it's going along party lines so far

And Manchin casts his yes vote and protesters start shouting SHAME

Kavanaugh is confirmed by a final vote of 50-48 with Murkowski withdrawing her vote and Daines' absence

Stay tuned for reaction pieces from me and a BRAND NEW BOOM! LAWYERED podcast later today