Democrats are already talking about impeaching Kavanaugh before he's even confirmed

Associated Press/Saul Loeb

Supreme court nominee Brett Kavanaugh testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday. The committee will vote on Kavanaugh's confirmation on Friday.

• Before the Senate has even voted on whether or not to confirm Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, Democrats have begun talking about impeaching him from the court.
• Democrats stand to potentially win back the Senate in the 2018 midterm elections, and could use that opportunity to dig into Kavanaugh and possibly have him impeached.
• The Senate Judiciary Committee will vote on Kavanaugh's confirmation on Friday, potentially advancing him to a wider Senate vote and eventual confirmation to the Supreme Court.

Before the Senate has even voted on whether or not to confirm Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, Democrats have begun talking about impeaching him from the court.

"Based on the numerous allegations of sexual assault against Judge Brett Kavanaugh, including these new criminal allegations by Julie Swetnick, the House Judiciary Committee must immediately start an investigation into Judge Kavanaugh to see if he should be impeached," Ted Lieu, a California Democratic Congressman tweeted on Wednesday.

Lieu's tweet refers to Swetnick, the Kavanaugh accusers who alleges he and friends held parties and plied women with drugs and alcohol to facilitate gang raping them.

The news website Axios quoted a well-known, but unnamed, Democratic strategist on Friday as saying that among the minority Democratic party, if Kavanaugh gets confirmed, it's "only question is who calls for it [impeachment] first."

Jim Bourg/Reuters

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat, told CNN on Thursday: "As soon as Democrats get gavels we're going to want to get to the bottom of this." It implies that Democratic wins in 2018 could tip the balance of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and allow the current minority party to dig into Kavanaugh.

With Kavanaugh's confirmation vote set for Friday, and the schedule permitting his ascension to the Supreme Court as quickly as next week, Democrats' only option to oppose Kavanaugh may be impeachment.