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Here Are the Senate Women at the Center of the Brett Kavanaugh Debate


When it comes to the controversial nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, men run the show.

Technically, anyway.

President Donald Trump, of course, picked Kavanaugh for the high court. The Senate Judiciary Committee, which has held confirmation hearings on the judge—including testimony from Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused him of sexually assaulting her in the 1980s—is controlled by Republican Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley. And the Senate majority leader is Kentucky Republican Mitch McConnell, who’s firmly on Kavanaugh’s side and is driving the chamber toward confirmation as fast as he can.

But a group of women are playing pivotal roles at this divisive moment in U.S. history. Some serve on the Judiciary Committee. Some have staked out positions as nationally recognized champions of women’s rights. Some face a choice between siding with their party or with those protesting it.

Here, in alphabetical order, is a quick guide to some of the Senate women who’ve been in the spotlight (or on the hot seat) in the Kavanaugh controversy, including those whose political futures are definitely worth watching in the run-up to the 2020 race for president.

SUSAN COLLINS

PHOTO: Bloomberg

The GOP controls the Senate by a tiny margin, so any defections put the party in danger of seeing Kavanaugh’s confirmation blow up. Collins, who represents Maine, has been one of the most closely tracked members of the Senate throughout the Kavanaugh debate: She’s a Republican, but she’s also pro-choice.

Before Ford’s claims that Kavanaugh attacked her when they were high school students—which he has categorically denied—Collins was already regularly swarmed by reporters trying to take her temperature on whether she’d vote to confirm the judge to replace the retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy. Now she’s surrounded not only by the press, but under pressure from both protesters and colleagues who want her to reject Kavanaugh.

Collins supported Trump’s first SCOTUS nominee last year, but that was a very different story: When Neil Gorsuch succeeded the late Justice Antonin Scalia, it was a matter of one conservative replacing another. The balance of the court was unchanged. Kennedy was also nominated by a Republican president, Ronald Reagan, but he ended up a swing justice who sided with liberals in critical cases that upheld abortion protections. Replacing Kennedy with Kavanaugh would tilt the high court firmly to the right.

Collins met privately with Kavanaugh before the Ford allegations. She said that she came away with the understanding that the judge considers Roe v. Wade a matter of settled law.

But since Kavanaugh went on the defensive over the assault claims, Collins has come under even more pressure to take a side. She publicly called the allegations “serious” and supported allowing lawyers for Ford and Kavanaugh to question each other during the Judiciary hearings (which didn’t end up happening).

As of Thursday, she had told reporters she considered the FBI probe “very thorough,” but said she hadn’t finished reviewing all the materials. She also hadn’t said how she planned to vote.

DIANNE FEINSTEIN

Senate Judiciary Committee Votes On Nomination Of Brett Kavanaugh

PHOTO: Bloomberg

The California senator is in a challenging position: She’s the highest-ranking woman on the Judiciary Committee, but she’s a Democrat. (As the majority party, Republicans ultimately control the proceedings.)

Feinstein has faced considerable criticism during the Kavanaugh confirmation process, including the timeline of her actions after receiving a letter from Ford that detailed her allegations of assault. The senator has said she was simply trying to respect Ford’s request for privacy; Republicans have instead accused Feinstein of stalling so she could drop a bombshell on the SCOTUS nominee late in the game and hurt his chances of getting the job.

Some anti-Kavanaugh activists reportedly think Feinstein’s methodical, low-key style just isn’t cutting it as the Republicans are on the verge of getting the nomination to a vote, although the longtime lawmaker has also been praised for being fair.

KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND

Senators Review FBI Report Ahead Of Vote On Kavanaugh Supreme Court Nomination

PHOTO: Drew Angerer

The New York senator has a record of speaking out against sexual assault, particularly in the military—and she opposed Kavanaugh well before the current scandal engulfed his nomination.

Gillibrand, a Democrat who’s often mentioned as a potential 2020 presidential contender although she hasn’t confirmed those rumors, has flatly suggested Kavanaugh is a hyper-conservative would be a threat to abortion rights and women’s health care. She’s also questioned his past positions on the exercise of presidential power.

In July, well before the news broke of Ford’s allegations against Kavanaugh, Gillibrand told Glamour she considered the judge “more dangerous than any previous justice nominee because of his education and his experience and because of the track record he’s laid out about what he intends to do,” adding, “I think he is going to be very destructive to basic civil rights and civil liberties for millions of Americans.”

Thursday night, Gillibrand urged people to change the game by showing up on Election Day.

“If the Senate was 51% women, would SCOTUS nominees look like Brett Kavanaugh, or like Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor?” she asked. “Let’s elect record numbers of women so our high offices are held by leaders who’ll do the most good for the most people.”

KAMALA HARRIS

Sen. Kamala Harris, Sen. Merkley, And Sen. Cortez Masto Introduce An Immigrant Family Reunification Bill

PHOTO: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

The former California attorney general has put her prosecutorial skills to work as a member of the Judiciary Committee, peppering Kavanaugh with pointed questions during the confirmation hearings.

Her intensity wasn’t much of a surprise: Harris, a Democrat, got plenty of attention for grilling now-U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions during his Judiciary interviews as well.

Harris is only the second black woman elected to the Senate in American history (the first was Sen. Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois) and has made a name for herself in public life as a fighter against racial inequity, both inside and outside the criminal justice system—and a lawmaker with a cool head.

Some forecasters have said the combination of passion and compassion Harris has evinced in the political arena, and her calls to elevate the American debate beyond the “mean” tone of the Trump era, could be a blueprint for a potential run for the White House. She’s not tipping her hand on a future campaign just yet.

MAZIE HIRONO

Senate Lawmakers Speak To The Media After Their Weekly Policy Luncheons

PHOTO: Zach Gibson

The Hawaii senator is not a prospective candidate for president—she can’t seek the Oval Office, having been born outside the U.S.—but her standout role as a Kavanaugh interrogator has some people wishing she could.

Hirono, a Democrat who serves on Judiciary, notably asked Kavanaugh well before the Ford allegations surfaced whether he had ever engaged in sexual harassment or assault. (He said he had not.) As the New Yorker noted, Hirono said she posed the question because she “did not want the #MeToo movement to be swept under the rug,” not because she had any heads-up about the coming scandal.

The cancer survivor, who is also the only immigrant currently serving in the Senate, also made a point of asking Kavanaugh about his attitudes toward indigenous peoples—and releasing a 2002 email (which had been marked “confidential”) that included his views on a legal question regarding Native Hawaiians.

Hirono said in the hearings that his views on the status of native peoples should be considered offensive—and not just by Hawaiians. Read on for why that matters in more ways than one…

AMY KLOBUCHAR

Senate Judiciary Committee Holds Vote On Brett Kavanaugh Nomination

PHOTO: Chip Somodevilla

While a Democrat, Klobuchar, the senior senator from the swing state of Minnesota has been described as somewhat more moderate than some of her colleagues. That might not be in vogue in 2018, when hard-charging liberals (and even some self-identified Democratic socialists) are exciting some midterm voters. The landscape could look different in 2020, when a Trump challenger might try to appeal to Americans on both the left and right of the political spectrum.

Klobuchar is the fourth Democratic woman who serves on Judiciary (all the Republicans are men). She had a memorable question for her male colleagues who sat in opposition to letting the FBI investigate the allegations against Kavanaugh: “What are you hiding?”

At least as memorable: The moment Klobuchar asked Kavanaugh if he’d ever blacked out from drinking, only to have him throw the question back at her. He later apologized to Klobuchar, who said in a CNN interview that she’d been “stunned” by his conduct during the Judiciary hearing.

Klobuchar was also among the Democrats who had off-mic conversations with Arizona Republican Sen. Jeff Flake, who ultimately pushed his GOP colleagues to give the FBI more time to look into Kavanaugh’s past before a Senate vote.

LISA MURKOWSKI

Politicians And Protestors React To New Kavanaugh Accusations On Capitol Hill

PHOTO: Drew Angerer

Like Collins, Murkowski is a pro-choice Republican woman, and whether she’ll ultimately come down for or against Kavanaugh has been keeping the pundits speculating.

The Alaska senator’s office told the Anchorage Daily News on Thursday that she, like Collins, is reviewing the FBI files—although Murkowski had not gone so far as her Maine counterpart in calling the investigation “thorough.” She has, however, acknowledged that the pressure is on from both sides, and that her office has been flooded with emails and calls about the confirmation.

Murkowski and Collins both also criticized Trump after he ridiculed Ford’s testimony and portrayed Kavanaugh as a victim of character assassination during a Tuesday rally in Mississippi.

For Murkowski, however, Hirono’s question to the judge about indigenous peoples may carry extra significance: As the Daily News has reported, Alaska Native organizations that helped her win a big 2010 Senate race consider Kavanaugh a potential danger to tribal authority, are out in force against him, and are making sure Murkowski knows it.

ELIZABETH WARREN

Protesters Demonstrate Against Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh On Day Of Hearing With His Accuser Dr. Christine Blasey Ford

PHOTO: Zach Gibson

The Massachusetts senator—and possible 2020 contender—isn’t a member of the Judiciary Committee, but she’s been outspoken on opposing the Kavanaugh nomination.

“The fact that Republicans want to go forward treating [Ford] and other women who have come forward as if their claims don’t matter is an insult to every single woman in this country,” she told Glamour in Washington on the day of Ford’s testimony to Judiciary last week. “It is fundamentally wrong.”

Warren was also among the luminaries who protested Kavanaugh on Thursday, telling a rally crowd, “I am angry on behalf of women who have been told to sit down and shut up one time too many.”

There are no bridges left to burn between Trump and Warren: The president has mockingly called her “Pocahontas” in questioning her self-described Native American heritage; Warren has been a steady critic of the administration’s policies, including on federal family planning funding.

While she hasn’t officially committed to challenging Trump, Warren was recently quoted saying she’d take a “hard look” at it after the Nov. 6 midterms.

Celeste Katz is senior politics reporter for Glamour. Send news tips, questions, and comments to celeste_katz@condenast.com.

MORE: Elizabeth Warren Says She’s Taking a ‘Hard Look’ at Running for President in 2020





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There's a Message in Brett Kavanaugh's 30 Mentions of Beer at the Senate Hearing


During a grueling eight-hour hearing in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford detailed the alleged assault she faced at the hands of Brett Kavanaugh while both were in high school, opened up about moving out of her home because of the death threats she’s received, and even managed to explain how the hippocampus works.

And what did Supreme Court judge nominee Brett Kavanaugh discuss when he finally took the stand? Beer, mostly. How he really, really, really likes it. So much so that he brought it up over 30 times during his testimony, according to a Buzzfeed count.

When we were first introduced to Kavanaugh, he was touted as a boy scout of sorts. A family man. A Christian. A virgin. But the version we met on Thursday was a beer-drinking, fun-loving guy, as Kavanaugh described his younger self (around the time of Ford‘s reported attack) as just a typical boy who loved basketball, getting good grades, and going to the occasional party.

As he put it, “I drank beer with my friends. Almost everyone did.”

“Sometimes I had too many beers. Sometimes others did. I liked beer. I still like beer. But I did not drink beer to the point of blacking out, and I never sexually assaulted anyone.” Meaning, he was just a boy being a boy, doing boyish things—nothing more.

Driving home his preference for ales over harder liquors could have been a device to downplay the allegations that Kavanaugh was known as a heavy drinker. A college friend of his, Liz Swisher, recently told The Washington Post that “Brett was a sloppy drunk, and I know because I drank with him. I watched him drink more than a lot of people. He’d end up slurring his words, stumbling. There’s no medical way I can say that he was blacked out.… But it’s not credible for him to say that he has had no memory lapses in the nights that he drank to excess.”

How could the allegations against him be viable, if he was only casually drinking brewskis with his bros? is what Kavanaugh could have been hoping we’d wonder. Well, if he spends anywhere close to the amount of time he talks about beer actually drinking the damn beverage, let’s just say gravity wouldn’t be his friend.

But regardless of Kavanaugh’s motives—there’s one thing we can actually all agree on: Kavanaugh f*cking loves beer!

So in this spirit of bipartisan agreement, we’ve compiled a list—without comment—of the top 10 times Kavanaugh spoke about his beloved drink of choice while testifying:

1. “Listen to the people I’ve grown up with, and worked with, and played with, and coached with, and dated, and taught, and gone to games with, and had beers with.”

2. “When I was in town, I spent much of my time working, working out, lifting weights, playing basketball, or hanging out and having some beers with friends as we talked about life, and football, and school and girls.”

3. “The calendars show a few weekday gatherings at friends’ houses after a workout or just to meet up and have some beers.”

4. “I drank beer with my friends.”

5. “Sometimes I had too many beers.”

6. “I liked beer.”

7. “I still like beer.”

8. “Anyone who’s known me like a lot of these people behind me, have known me my whole life, know, you know, I got a weak stomach, whether it’s with beer or with spicy food or anything.”

9. “I like beer. I don’t know if you do. Do you like beer, Senator, or not? What do you like to drink?”

10. “No…. We drank beer and…so did, I think, the vast majority of people our age at the time. In any event, we drank beer and still do, so, whatever, yeah,”

Ah. Boys will be boys. Enjoy your beers this weekend.

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Anita Hill Has Some Advice for the Senate Judiciary Committee on How to Handle the Kavanaugh Hearings


There is, perhaps, no person in America better suited to weigh in on the current state of Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination hearings than Anita Hill.

In 1991, the law professor found herself in a position similar to that of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford in that both had come forward to accuse a Supreme Court nominee of sexual misconduct. Hill testified about a pattern of sexual harassment during her time working with now-Justice Clarence Thomas, while Ford alleges that Kavanaugh drunkenly assaulted her during a party while they were in high school. (He has denied her allegations, just as Justice Thomas denied ever harassing Hill.)

Ford is reportedly considering testifying at the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings about the matter, pending an FBI investigation requested Tuesday by Ford’s lawyer to “ensure that the crucial facts and witnesses in this matter are assessed in a non-partisan manner.” Hill, having had some experience in this area, is offering some words of wisdom to the Senate Judiciary Committee to get it right this time around.

“Today, the public expects better from our government than we got in 1991, when our representatives performed in ways that gave employers permission to mishandle workplace harassment complaints throughout the following decades,” Hill writes in the New York Times. “That the Senate Judiciary Committee still lacks a protocol for vetting sexual harassment and assault claims that surface during a confirmation hearing suggests that the committee has learned little from the Thomas hearing, much less the more recent #MeToo movement.”

Here are some takeaways from Hill’s powerful op-ed:

Don’t mix messages.

Hill says that confronting sexual harassment and ensuring the integrity of the Supreme Court are not things that are at odds with each other. “Both are aimed at making sure that our judicial system operates with legitimacy,” she writes.

Neutrality is key.

Hill suggests that a neutral body with experience in the subject of sexual misconduct should lead an investigation into Ford’s claims so as not to be tainted by the rampant partisanship we see on almost every current political matter. And after that, senators must rely on the results and act as fact-finders when asking their own questions. “The investigators’ report should frame the hearing,” says Hill. “Not politics or myths about sexual assault.”

Slow down.

Rushing the hearings is a mistake, according to Hill. She says it sends the message that these types of allegations are not important. “Simply put, a week’s preparation is not enough time for meaningful inquiry into very serious charges,” she says.

Say her name.

“Finally, refer to Christine Blasey Ford by her name. She was once anonymous, but no longer is. Dr. Blasey is not simply ‘Judge Kavanaugh’s accuser.’ Dr. Blasey is a human being with a life of her own. She deserves the respect of being addressed and treated as a whole person.”

Hill also wisely points out that Kavanaugh has the benefit of organized support for his side while Christine Blasey Ford will be “outresourced” and that “imbalance may not seem fair.”

While it may be too late to heed all of Hill’s warnings, we can only hope that the process is not as problematic as it was for her in 1991. I remember watching the coverage of those hearings as an almost 16-year-old and taking away the unfortunate message that it was extremely hard to be believed as a woman, no matter how credible your claims.

In the media run-up to Monday’s hearing, it would seem that not a lot has changed. I hope I’m proven wrong.

You can read the rest of Hill’s op-ed, here.

Related Stories:

Read This Before Asking Why Christine Blasey Ford Waited to Tell Her Brett Kavanaugh Story

In the Age of #MeToo, Will Christine Blasey Ford’s Experience Be the Same as Anita Hill’s?



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Senate Interns Hoping To See Taylor Swift Crowd Capitol Hill Building


Given the political climate in the country at the moment, it’s likely a stressful time to be an intern on Capitol Hill. So who can blame anyone on the Hill for getting a wee bit excited upon hearing a rumor that Taylor Swift would be at the Russell Senate Office building on Wednesday for a meeting?

The idea that the “Look What You Made Me Do” singer could be roaming the halls seemed viable enough. Even considering that, historically, she shies away from political conversation (to the point that she is often criticized for her silence). She was, after all, in Washington, D.C., as part of her Reputation tour.

“Very important news: Sources say Taylor Swift will be in Russell Senate office building at some point today for a meeting,” tweeted reporter Juliegrace Brufke.

Enter the Swift hunt frenzy. All it took was that rumor of her appearance to send interns and young staffers on mission to spot the singer.

Obviously, it was all documented on social media, with one journalist joking that “all work” had stopped.

Roll Call reported that some believed Swift was meeting with New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, but her office said that was not true. And Fox News got word that “high level sources on both sides of CapHill” said there was no “‘official’ expectation for Taylor Swift to appear at the Capitol complex” on Wednesday.

So it seems that Taylor Swift remains publicly apolitical when it comes to making moves on Capitol Hill. She has, of course, flexed her political muscle elsewhere, supporting victims of sexual assault in the past and donating to the March for Our Lives, writing on Instagram, “No one should have to go to school in fear of gun violence. Or to a nightclub. Or to a concert. Or to a movie theater. Or to their place of worship.”

As for those staffers and interns, they didn’t go home empty-handed: Iconic actress and lifelong political activist Jane Fonda was in the building on behalf of the National Domestic Workers Alliance in partnership with the Alianza Nacional de Campesinas.

We’re glad at least somebody noticed.





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Thanks to Tammy Duckworth, Babies Are Now Allowed on the Senate Floor


Just 10 days after becoming the first Senator to give birth while in office, Tammy Duckworth made history again last night when she introduced a rule change that would allow children (like her newborn daughter Maile Pearl Bowlsbey) under one year of age on the Senate floor. Senators are also now allowed to breastfeed during votes if necessary, ensuring that they would not have to choose between caring for their child and doing their jobs.

In a statement thanking her colleagues, Duckworth said: “By ensuring that no Senator will be prevented from performing their constitutional responsibilities simply because they have a young child, the Senate is leading by example and sending the important message that working parents everywhere deserve family-friendly workplace policies. These policies aren’t just a women’s issue, they are a common-sense economic issue.” According to CNN, Duckworth had been working behind the scenes for some time on the matter and the last time additional floor privileges were granted was in 1977, allowing service dogs on the floor.

Though the change passed with unanimous consent, Senator Amy Klobacher (D—Minn.) told CNN, “It’s been quite a journey.” Apparently some lawmakers raised questions like whether diapers would be changed on the floor or whether there would be a dress code for babies. She continued, “The Senate is steeped in tradition and just like the rest of the country, sometimes things have to change.”

Dick Durbin, the senior Senator from Duckworth’s home state of Illinois said of the change, “I think it will do us good in the United States Senate, every once in a while to see a pacifier next to the antique ink wells on our desks.” He continued, “Perhaps the cry of a baby will shock the Senate at times into speaking out and even crying out on the issues that confront our nation and the world.”



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Al Franken Resigns From the Senate


Following multiple allegations of sexual harassment—and calls from numerous Senate Democrats to resign from his seat—Senator Al Franken (D-Minn.) announced on Thursday that he would be stepping down “in the coming weeks.”

At least six women have come forward to accuse Franken of unwanted groping or kissing. On Wednesday, dozens of his fellow Democratic senators called on Franken to resign, with Senators Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Kamala Harris of California, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, and Claire McCaskill of Missouri being the first lawmakers to do so.

Appearing on the Senate floor, Franken began his emotional speech first by addressing the Me Too movement and stating that “all women deserve to be heard.” Though Franken has previously apologized for some of the accusations, he did not offer an explicit apology in his address and said that he remembered some of the allegations differently than the women.

As his speech continued, Franken offered a pointed reminder of the sexual assault allegations that have been brought forward against President Donald Trump, as well as the women who have come forward accusing Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore of sexual abuse.

“I am aware that there is some irony in the fact that I am leaving while a man who has bragged on tape about his history of sexual assault sits in the Oval Office and a man who repeatedly preyed on young girls campaigns for the Senate with the full support of his party,” Franken said. “But this decision is not about me. It’s about the people of Minnesota.”

Though Franken will be exiting the Senate, he noted that his dedication to public service is not over.

“Let me be clear. I may be resigning my seat, but I am not giving up my voice,” Franken said. “I will continue to stand up for the things I believe in as a citizen and as an activist. Minnesotans deserve a senator who can focus with all her energy on addressing the challenges they face every day.”

As Franken left the Senate floor, many of his fellow Democrats could be seen “sniffling or openly sobbing,” according to CNN. And in a phone call to the network, Leeann Tweeden—the first woman to accuse Franken of sexual harassment—called the situation “lose-lose.”

“I’m not celebrating his resignation. It’s a lose-lose situation,” Tweeden said. “I’m not celebrating his resignation but we also can’t tolerate hypocrisy. We can’t have our leaders saying one thing and doing another.”





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