Kavanaugh Confirmation Hearings To Focus On 6 Hot-Button Issues

The confirmation of a Supreme Court justice is often a major event that ripples through American law for decades. But Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing, which opens Tuesday, is especially historic because, if confirmed, Kavanaugh is expected to solidify a hard-right majority on the nation's highest court, a majority the likes of which has not been seen since the early 1930s, and which is likely to dominate for a generation or more.

The almost-week-long hearing will have both more and less drama than Neil Gorsuch's last year — more because Kavanaugh has a longer record in public life and a paper trail to match, and less because the Republicans changed the Senate rules last year to allow confirmation with a simple majority, instead of 60 votes.

With a one-vote GOP majority in the Senate, and no indication so far that any Republican will defect, the outcome would seem a foregone conclusion. Still, anything can happen in a confirmation hearing.

So, here is a crib sheet highlighting five of the issues that will come up this week:

1. Abortion: Will Kavanaugh overturn Roe v. Wade?

Expect Kavanaugh to be asked repeatedly about the Supreme Court's 1973 abortion decision, . And expect him to follow in the footsteps of Republican nominees over the last