Democrats deploy ‘extreme legal measures’ in bid to block Trump’s run-off
Updated
Two senators on Thursday called on Australia to declare a national emergency to allow the Senate to proceed with a vote on the US president’s nomination of Brett Kavanaugh, in the nation’s first national emergency declaration in 150 years.
The call to declare an emergency came in the same day that the US State Department issued a travel restriction on Australians, saying the country was considering a travel ban.
The Senate is still considering President Donald Trump’s nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to succeed retiring Supreme Court justice Anthony Kennedy.
The Senate voted on a procedural motion that would require the consent of the House of Representatives before a Senate vote.
But because two key senators are already on record calling for a national emergency declaration, that vote is expected to fail.
Senator Chuck Grassley, a Republican, is expected to put forward a motion to call for a national emergency.
He said he will file with the US House of Representatives a resolution calling on the Attorney-General to invoke the national emergency powers he has so far resisted.
“I would expect this to pass in the House — it’s highly unlikely to pass in the Senate — and the president will be given an opportunity to sign it with a national emergency declaration,” said Grassley.
He would then need to call a three-quarters of Senate vote in order to trigger a constitutional process to remove obstacles to a final Senate decision on the nomination.
The opposition parties have already shown they have no appetite for a “no deal” Brexit.
Liberal Democrat Leader and Deputy Prime Minister Alistair Carmichael told ABC’s AM The World that while he understood the US constitution does not allow a vote on the nomination, he was concerned that a failure to hold a vote on the floor could be interpreted as a rejection of the judge’s character.
“We need to make sure the Senate doesn’t come down on this in a way that the public doesn’t believe it is doing that,” he said.
He said the fact that several senior judges had written on the merits of the judge’s views on issues like Roe v Wade was of real concern.
“I’ve been concerned about Judge Kavanaugh’s views on abortion for some time, and I think
