Charles E. Schumer (D - NY) Definitely No
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October 2: “The greatest issue against Judge Kavanaugh, the one that bothers most people, is his credibility,” Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Tuesday in a speech on the Senate floor. “Is he telling the truth? That issue supersedes all the others.” “There are far too many misstatements, far too many inaccuracies, far too many mischaracterizations,” Schumer said. (The Washington Post)
September 16: “To railroad a vote now would be an insult to the women of America and the integrity of the Supreme Court,” Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a statement. (The Washington Post)
September 1: He said: “We’re witnessing a Friday night document massacre. President Trump’s decision to step in at the last moment and hide 100,000 pages of Judge Kavanaugh’s records from the American public is not only unprecedented in the history of Supreme Court nominations, it has all the makings of a cover-up.” Schumer added: “Republicans in the Senate and the president of the United States are colluding to keep Judge Kavanaugh’s records secret, and trying to hide their actions from the American people by doing it on the Friday night of a holiday weekend. What are they trying so desperately to hide?” (Fox News)
August 21: Schumer credited Kavanaugh for allowing them to go over their scheduled 45-minute meeting time but complained that he refused to answer basic questions. “I asked him if he agreed that Roe v. Wade and Casey v. Planned Parenthood were correctly decided,” Schumer told reporters. “He would not say yes. That should send shivers down the spine of any American who believes in reproductive freedom for women.” Kavanaugh also failed to say whether Obamacare is constitutional or whether a sitting president must comply with a subpoena, Schumer added, in addition to failing to recall key moments from his time as staff secretary and counsel in George W. Bush’s White House, which Schumer framed as further evidence that Democrats should be given access to documents from that time. “His lack of recollection on almost everything didn’t ring true,” Schumer said. “He’s a bright man. He recalls a lot. But on every key question like those, he said, ‘I couldn’t’ recall.’” Schumer argued that Kavanaugh is in a unique position as a Supreme Court pick who was nominated after the president vowed to appoint only judges who would overturn abortion rights. “Judge Kavanaugh has a special obligation to make his views on this topic clear,” Schumer said. “I reminded him repeatedly that he’s in a unique position: No other president has nominated someone to the Supreme Court after saying, ‘I will only nominate someone who overturns Roe v. Wade.’ He had a special obligation to dispute that if he didn’t agree with it. He did not. At all.” (Politico)
July 9: The Senate has come together on a bipartisan basis to protect women’s reproductive rights and to protect health care for millions of Americans before – including those with pre-existing conditions. We need to do it again. I will oppose Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination with everything I have, and I hope a bipartisan majority will do the same. The stakes are simply too high for anything less. (senate.gov)