Two Democratic senators have said voters angry that Republicans confirmed Brett Kavanaugh to the US Supreme Court despite allegations of sexual misconduct should focus on next month's congressional elections instead of seeking to impeach the new justice.
Mr Kavanaugh was sworn in late last night amid protests at the court after he was narrowly confirmed in a 50-48 Senate vote but with questions raised from Democrats and liberal groups as to whether he will be a partisan justice.
Mr Kavanaugh's confirmation means the nine-justice court now has a solid 5-4 conservative majority that is likely to move the court further to the right as it rules on contentious issues such as abortion, immigration, transgender rights, industry regulation and presidential powers.
Some Democrats in the House of Representatives have indicated Mr Kavanaugh could face investigations or even potential impeachment if they win majorities in the House and possibly the Senate.
You don’t hand matches to an arsonist, and you don’t give power to an angry left-wing mob. Democrats have become too EXTREME and TOO DANGEROUS to govern. Republicans believe in the rule of law - not the rule of the mob. VOTE REPUBLICAN!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 7, 2018
But Senators Chris Coons and Mazie Hirono distanced themselves from those demands, saying they are concentrating on the 7 November congressional elections.
"I think that’s premature," Mr Coons said of impeachment talk on NBC's ‘Meet the Press’.
"Frankly we are just less than a month away from an election. Folks who feel very strongly one way or other about the issues in front of us should get out and vote and participate."
Democrats are hopeful of winning control of the House but the Senate is a long shot. Republicans say that anger on the right at the way Democrats treated Mr Kavanaugh may have energised their voters as well.
US President Donald Trump said the public protests against Mr Kavanaugh were the work of "an angry left-wing mob" and has urged his supporters to vote in November.
Mr Kavanaugh fought back against the accusations with a blistering partisan attack at a 27 September Senate hearing on Christine Blasey Ford's allegation that he had sexually assaulted her when they were in high school.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said yesterday that "nothing unifies Republicans like a court fight".
With both parties focusing on the confirmation battle, it is unclear who will capitalise on it most effectively in the elections.
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Ms Hirono, speaking on ABC's ‘This Week’, said: "I’m focused like a laser beam on the elections" when asked about impeachment.
"I’m very focused on the here and now, which is that all these angry women, mainly, out there who saw what was going on and how the Senate was not able to deal with the entire issue of sexual assault," she said.
Noting that only one Supreme Court justice has ever been impeached, Mr Coons said the Senate needed to show leadership and seek to heal the country.
"I think talking about it at this point isn’t necessarily healing us and moving us forward," he said.
Samuel Chase was the only justice to be impeached by the House in 1804. He was acquitted by the Senate the following year.
Kellyanne Conway, a senior White House adviser, said on ABC's ‘This Week’ that the focus should turn from Mr Kavanaugh's combative testimony and toward his 12 years as a respected appeals court judge in Washington.
"The Supreme Court, thank God, is a sacrosanct institution that can withstand much," Ms Conway said.
