Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) on Thursday reaffirmed his support for confirming Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the United States Supreme Court and called on other members of the Senate to “put aside unnecessary, partisan, political obstruction.”

Alabama’s senior senator, and the powerful chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, has consistently urged his colleagues – including Sen. Doug Jones (D-Mountain Brook) – to join him in voting ‘yes’ on confirmation.

With Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing – which has been marred by Democratic grandstanding and theatrics – expected to end on Friday, Shelby once again called on the Senate to confirm Kavanaugh.

“Judge Kavanaugh has done an outstanding job in his hearings this week,” Shelby said in a tweet.

He continued, “The Senate must put aside unnecessary, partisan, political obstruction in an effort to move through regular order and [confirm Kavanaugh].”

Delays by Senate Democrats to #ConfirmKavanaugh are baseless, as they currently have access to more material to evaluate him than for any previous nominee. In fact, @SenJudiciary received more pages of executive branch material than for the previous 5 SCOTUS justices combined. pic.twitter.com/lF9o8BHs3c

— Richard Shelby (@SenShelby) September 6, 2018

After meeting with Kavanaugh in July, Shelby voiced his strong support of the nominee.

“After speaking with Judge Brett Kavanaugh, I am confident that he is principled, intelligent, and a steadfast supporter of the rule of law,” Shelby said then. “He is highly-qualified for this role and exhibits strong, conservative values and an unwavering commitment to our Constitution. I have no doubt that Judge Kavanaugh will uphold the principles on which our nation was founded.”

Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn