(CN) - A Democratic senator sued President Donald Trump, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the National Archives on Wednesday to block the Senate from voting on the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.
Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, contends the Trump administration has interfered with the Senate's ability to provide advice and consent by "imposing a broad and unprecedented blockade on the Senate’s and public’s access to reams of key documents" from Kavanaugh's tenure working in White House under President George W. Bush.
"This improper process regarding the production of relevant documents prevents Senator Merkley and his colleagues from properly exercising their constitutional obligation to provide advice and consent on the qualifications of the nominee and deprives them of the ability to fully assess the nominee’s fitness to assume the position of an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court," the complaint says.
Merkley wants a federal judge in the nation's capital to intervene and prevent the confirmation vote until Kavanaugh's full record is available for public scrutiny.
The full Senate could vote on Kavanaugh early next week.
The Trump administration cited executive privilege in withholding about 100,000 pages of documents from Kavanaugh's time as legal counsel. The administration, saying that disclosure of deliberations and advice would jeopardize a president's ability to carry out their core constitutional duties.
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