SCOTUS confirmation hearings for Kavanaugh set for Tuesday

WASHINGTON, D.C. (NBCNC) – Confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh will begin Tuesday morning.

Opening statements before the Senate Judiciary Committee begin at 9:30 a.m. and the hearings are expected to last three to four days.

They begin just under two months since President Trump nominated the Federal Appeals Court judge to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy.

Republicans hold a slim majority in the Senate and they’re hoping a combination of support from GOP senators and red-state Democrats will confirm Kavanaugh and tilt the court to the right.

But Democrats say they’re concerned about Kavanaugh’s position on issues ranging from executive power to his view of precedent as it relates to Roe vs. Wade. And they complain that about 100,000 documents related to Kavanaugh’s career in the federal government have been withheld by the Trump Administration.

Democratic leader Chuck Schumer says any confirmation hearing should be delayed until Special Counsel Robert Mueller has finished his Russia probe, but Republican Chair of the Judiciary Committee Charles Grassley has brushed back those calls.