Getty Images/Drew Angerer
Judge Brett Kavanaugh delivers his opening statement during his Supreme Court confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill, September 4, 2018 in Washington, DC.
- Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and professor Christine Blasey Ford will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill today beginning at 10 a.m. ET.
- Ford, a research psychologist at Palo Alto University, has accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when the two were in high school.
- Both Kavanaugh and Ford are expected to be questioned by senators on the committee and a career prosecutor enlisted by the Republican majority.
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and professor Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused the judge of sexual assault, are scheduled to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee today beginning at 10 a.m. ET.
After committee chairman Chuck Grassley and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the committee, deliver their opening statements, Ford and Kavanaugh will each give statements and be questioned individually. Ford will testify first.
Rather than questioning the two witnesses themselves, senators can yield the five minutes they're each allotted to an independent counsel, Rachel Mitchell, a career prosecutor experienced in handling sex crimes who was enlisted by the committee's Republicans.
The Senate is narrowly divided and Kavanaugh will need to convince a handful of Republican lawmakers, including Sens. Susan Collis, Lisa Murkowski, and Jeff Flake - all of whom appear undecided - that he is innocent and fit to be confirmed.
A committee vote to confirm Kavanaugh is tentatively scheduled for Friday.