Sen. Jeff Merkley lost his bid to delay the Senate’s final vote on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh after a federal judge ruled Friday that he had waited too long to sue.

Mr. Merkley had sued last week claiming that the president and Senate Republicans were violating the Constitution by denying him the chance to properly give vet Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination.

He said the Constitution tasks senators with giving “advice and consent” on presidential picks, and he’s unable to carry that duty out without seeing more documents from the judge’s past.

Then as a vote neared this week, Mr. Merkley went back to the court asking to speed up a decision, saying that an order from a judge could pressure the Senate to slow down.

But Judge Amy Berman Jackson said Mr. Merkley should have acted weeks ago, once it became clear the documents wouldn’t be turned over.

And she ruled that Mr. Merkley’s request was beyond the court’s powers anyway.

“The motion does not seek any relief, if any could be granted by the court, related to the schedule of events in the Senate,” the judge wrote.

The Senate voted Friday morning to head off a Democratic filibuster and advance Judge Kavanaugh to a final confirmation vote, which will come some time before Saturday evening.

Mr. Merkley has been a staunch foe of President Trump and had vowed to oppose whoever he picked for the Supreme Court, even before Judge Kavanaugh was nominated.

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