Republicans are warning that time is running out for Brett Kavanaugh's accuser to tell Congress about her claim that he sexually assaulted her when both were teenagers.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley says his panel still plans a Monday morning hearing that Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford are invited to attend.
Grassley has told Ford's attorneys that the panel is giving the California psychology professor until 10 a.m. Friday to submit a biography and prepared statement "if she intends to testify" Monday.
It remains unclear whether Ford will attend or if the hearing will occur without her.
A statement by a Ford attorney, Lisa Banks, says Grassley's plan to call just two witnesses, Kavanaugh and Ford, "is not a fair or good faith investigation."
Meanwhile, Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto says she's voting against U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh because of his stance on abortion rights.
Cortez Masto announced in a statement Wednesday that after reviewing Kavanaugh's record and testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee she found his positions to be "extreme" and disqualifying.
The statement did not mention Christine Blasey Ford's allegations of sexual assault against Kavanaugh but the senator earlier this week said the woman's allegations should be investigated by the FBI.
Republican Sen. Dean Heller previously said he had "no reservations" about confirming Kavanaugh but it's unclear if that's changed in light of Ford's allegations.
Heller's office did not respond to messages asking if his stance had changed but released a statement from the senator where he said it was important that Ford share her information with the Judiciary Committee.
Cortez Masto (D-NV) released this full statement:
“After carefully reviewing Judge Kavanaugh’s record and listening to his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, I have determined that his stance on a woman’s right to choose is extreme and disqualifies him from a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court.
“From his challenge of Roe v. Wade as ‘settled law’ during his time as a White House attorney to his far-fetched dissent denying a 17-year-old undocumented immigrant in detention from accessing an abortion, I have no doubt that his confirmation would tip the balance of the Supreme Court to end Roe v. Wade and imperil American women’s reproductive freedom.”
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
