Yesterday, Judge Jackson confirmed me for approximately thirty minutes and then for an hour after lunch. I was first to attend a Supreme Court confirmation hearing. We have had no Supreme Court confirmation hearings in 10 years, from 1994 to 2005. Since 2016, there have been four Supreme Court confirmation hearings.
You may have observed that many people were in the room, whether you watched on TV or not. Unbeknownst to many, every person in the room was either a senator staff member or an invited guest. There was no general admission. The Senate offices gave out tickets for 30 minutes increments. Every thirty minutes, attendees were rotated out. That policy resulted in every guest being carefully screened. The Kavanaugh hearings were disrupted in the same way that there was no disruption.
According to the Senate’s COVID Policy, the public is only allowed into the building when accompanied by a Senate staffer. The public used to be allowed into the Senate buildings for whatever reason. A Capitol Police Officer asked me when this policy might be changed. I laughed and he said that it was never.
It was possible to see Senators Leahy and Cruz as they questioned me. I don’t know if there were any fireworks at Cruz’s hour, but they were clearly captured on film.
Although photographs were not allowed during the hearings, I managed to capture Judge Jackson leaving during a break. The blue gown is hers.
