Kavanaugh Confirmation Hearings Will Begin Sept. 4

Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's Senate confirmation hearings will officially begin on Sept. 4, according to an announcement by Senate Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) on Friday.

He expects the hearings to last between three to four days. Opening statements will be delivered on Sept. 4 and Kavanaugh will begin questioning on Sept. 5.

"He's a mainstream judge. He has a record of judicial independence and applying the law as it is written. ... It's time for the American people to hear directly from Judge Kavanaugh at his public hearing," Grassley said in a statement.

The Judiciary panel has received more than 184,000 pages of records from Kavanaugh's time as a White House lawyer and his work for Independent Counsel Ken Starr.

Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, (R-Texas), a member of the Judiciary Committee, said the hearings will make it possible for the Senate to commence a floor vote on President Trump's pick before the next term for the Supreme Court begins in October.

"I look forward to what will be a thorough and open vetting process by the Committee between now and September, followed by a vote to confirm him before October 1," he said.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) said Friday that he expected the Senate to confirm Kavanaugh. "He'll get confirmed," he told the radio station WKDZ. "It won't be a landslide, but he'll get confirmed."