WASHINGTON – Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, the chairman of the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee, said Wednesday that he hopes to have President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee confirmed by the Senate by early October and that hearings are most likely to begin sometime in September.

During an interview with Hugh Hewitt, Grassley said he doesn’t have an exact date for when hearings on Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court would be held, but that he is anticipating it will be in September.

“Sometime during September, but the earlier the better,” Grassley said.

Grassley reiterated that it typically takes between 65 and 70 days on average from the time the President announces a nominee until the time that someone is confirmed. Much of the time is reserved for document review and collection, a process that is expected to take time given Kavanaugh’s long legal record and a process that has become politicized on Capitol Hill as Democrats have argued they want to see more documentation surrounding Kavanaugh’s time in the Bush White House.

“If we could get this all done by October 1 when the Supreme Court starts its new fall session it would be ideal, but I think we can get it done soon after that if we don’t get it done by October the first,” Grassley told Hewitt.

Asked if the hearings could come in August, Grassley responded he hadn’t fully decided, but “I kind of doubt it.”

“It seems to me that early September would be the earliest,” Grassley said.

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