Hello from Senate Judiciary: Recess Edition. Dems are upset Grassley scheduled a judicial noms hearing during the recess; Grassley says they agreed to the date knowing this might happen. Kennedy is slated to run it, not Grassley — so far just Sasse is here
On today's agenda: 4th Circuit nominee Allison Rushing, who is facing oppo for her relative lack of experience (born in '82, graduated from law school in '07) and defense of DOMA. Five district court nominees (see below) are also up. You can watch here: judiciary.senate.gov/meetings/10/17… 
Kennedy has started the hearing -- it's him and Hatch (Sasse left the room a few minutes ago).
"Guess it's just you and me," Kennedy says to Hatch as he sits down
"Guess it's just you and me," Kennedy says to Hatch as he sits down
Kennedy asks Qs about Rushing's experience, whether she's had to deal with failure (she says she fails at sports, and luckily had colleagues who caught mistakes). He asks her to name some mid/senior-level lawyers at her firm, and then asks - "why shouldn't we appoint them?"
Rushing says she has the relevant experience — a career dedicated to practicing in the federal appeals courts. "I'm talking about life experience," Kennedy says, asking if she's been in the trenches at trial or repped clients who couldn't pay. Rushing says she has.
Kennedy pressed Rushing if she really has the experience to be a federal appeals judge; she says she does, citing time practicing in appeals courts and at SCOTUS. Kennedy's last Q is whether she knows the names of people who clean her office. Rushing said yes
Hatch says he's very impressed with Rushing, and denounces critics who point to her ties to Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal advocacy group that focuses on religious liberty issues. Hatch says the group's legal work is "widely respected"
Civil rights groups point to ADF's designation as a "hate group" by the Southern Poverty Law Center and work opposing LGBT rights
Less than a half hour after Kennedy kicked things off, Rushing is done testifying — it's still just Kennedy and Hatch in the room. The five district court nominees are now up
And then there were four: Crapo and Sasse just entered the room as the district court nominees give their opening remarks. Here's the scene now:
Hatch and Crapo congratulate the nominees, don't have any Qs. Sasse is up now, says he'll have a few Qs, but wanted to also express support for 4th Circuit nominee Allison Rushing, saying appellate experience is important and calling her an inspired choice
Sasse asked each of the nominees about their understanding of the First Amendment, saying he has concerns about talking about speech as a form of violence. Nominees gave broad comments about the importance of an open marketplace of ideas, positives to allowing disagreement, etc.
Kennedy asks nominees what the legal authority is for nationwide injunctions. The nominees largely demur, saying they'd want to see briefs before ruling and wouldn't want to weigh in on an issue that's the subject of litigation and an open political controversy
Kennedy brings up affirmative action, saying some schools contend they've found a "moral way to discriminate" — he asks nominees what the state of the law is. Nominees refer to SCOTUS cases on this (Bollinger, Michigan) and some refer to application of strict scrutiny re: race
Kennedy concludes by asking the nominees how long they've been lawyers, answers range from 15.5 to 26 years — bookending his earlier Qs to 4th Circuit nominee Allison Rushing. That's a wrap (there was a brief appearance by one nominee's adorable kid: "Vote for my daddy")
Following up on today's judicial nominations hearing, which was held over objections from Dems, Feinstein spox says in a statement that Feinstein never agreed to hold it over the recess (Grassley had said Dems okay'd October dates w/ the understanding there might be recess)
Grassley is pushing ahead with plans to hold another hearing on judicial nominations next week (Senate is still out on recess) Will more than four senators be there? Stay tuned!
