Pelosi says Trump isn’t ‘man enough to show up’ for Jan. 6 testimony
With the first day of hearings to kick off Tuesday afternoon, two key Democrat lawmakers are making their debut appearances.
They are Sen.-elect Sen. Joe Manchin, as well as Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D.
Manchin says he will ask the Senate Judiciary ranking member, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, to schedule a hearing for Manchin. She was the earliest Democrat to ask him to consider it, he noted.
“I think this is something he ought to do,” Manchin said in an interview. “This is about something I believe deeply in and we need to be part of to make sure that people are treated fairly by the government and not overcharged and overbilled.”
Heitkamp, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said she would follow up on Grassley’s inquiry into North Korea, a request Grassley made to the White House in late April.
Heitkamp said she will also try to raise questions about the process used for the confirmation of Supreme Court nominations.
“Do we have proper procedures in place to ensure we find out about potential conflicts of interests and financial conflicts of interest in the vetting?” she said at a lunchtime news conference. “This is all to be on the table, and I’m going to try to get the full committee to look at this.”
( Also on POLITICO: What happens now with Manchin)
As for Manchin, who faces Republican state attorney general candidate Kevin Corbett in a May 6 Republican primary, he is still basking in the glow of his narrow victory. He said a victory didn’t come easy, but it gave him a chance to bring about changes in Congress and state government.
Manchin said he believes the Senate Judiciary Committee will take up a confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, who faces allegations of sexual misconduct, when it returns from its July 4 recess.
He said the nation is at a crisis point and the time to change the culture of Washington is now.
