The U.S. Senate voted to advance Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination by a margin of 51-49 on Friday morning, but key senators remained mum on whether they will confirm the nominee in the final Senate vote Saturday.
The U.S. Senate voted to advance Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination by a margin of 51-49 on Friday morning, but key senators remained mum on whether they will confirm the nominee in the final Senate vote Saturday.
Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing has been marred by allegations of sexual misconduct and intense protests.
Friday's vote is a procedural one to end the debate, and some potential swing-vote senators could conceivably still hold out their support in the final confirmation roll call over the weekend.
Republicans Susan Collins of Maine and Jeff Flake of Arizona and Democrat Joe Manchin, who represents the red state of West Virginia, voted to advance the nomination while Republican Lisa Murkowski of Alaska did not.
Collins said she would announce at 3 p.m. ET her intention for the final Kavanaugh confirmation.
Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell has little room for error with his party's slim 51-49 hold on the Senate. In the event of a 50-50 tie, Vice-President Mike Pence would get a vote to cinch Kavanaugh's nomination.
The Senate gaveled open with the GOP chairman of the judiciary committee, Chuck Grassley of Iowa, lauding the appellate court judge's deep credentials and lashing out at the "left wing" groups he said have tried to take down U.S. President Donald Trump's nominee as "nothing short of monstrous."
Trump tweeted Friday after the cloture vote: "Very proud of the U.S. Senate for voting 'YES' to advance the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh!"
Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia is said to be the last of the Democrats whose intentions are not known with respect to the confirmation vote. (Mary F. Calvert/Reuters)
On the other side, Democratic minority leader Chuck Schumer of New York decried the influence of hard-right special interest groups in determining the candidates for Trump's nomination. He also made an implied reference to Merick Garland, the Barack Obama nominee for the later Anton Scalia's seat who was denied a hearing in 2016, as Senate Republicans argued the vote would take place too close to the November election and the new president should get to fill the seat.
"Let the confirmation process for Judge Kavanaugh be recorded as a sorry epilogue to the brazen theft of Justice Scalia's seat, and the ignominious end of bipartisan co-operation and consultation on the confirmation of Supreme Court justices," said Schumer.
Kavanaugh, the 53-year-old Federal Court judge made what were in effect closing arguments in a Wall Street Journal op-ed late Thursday. He acknowledged that he became "very emotional" when forcefully denying the allegations at a judiciary committee hearing last week, in which the committee also heard from Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. Ford has accused Kavanagh of forcing her onto a bed during a high school party in 1982 and attempting to take her clothes off as he held his hand over her mouth to stifle her cries for help.
"I said a few things I should not have said," he wrote in the op-ed. But he said he remains the same "hardworking, even-keeled" person he has always been. "Going forward, you can count on me," he wrote in The Wall Street Journal.
U.S. Senator Steve Daines plans to attend his daughter's wedding in his home state of Montana on Saturday, potentially complicating when the final confirmation vote could take place. (James Lawler Duggan/Reuters)
Schumer called it the "bitterest partisan testimony I've ever heard from a candidate" seeking Senate confirmation and said there were many other judges conservatives would be happy with on the top court.
Before Manchin, the second-last undecided Democratic senator to remain silent said on Thursday she would oppose Kavanaugh. North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, who faces a difficult re-election race next month, cited concerns about his "past conduct," as well as his temperament.
McConnell had hoped to press ahead for a Saturday vote after limiting debate, but it is unclear how Republicans will deal with a complication – Republican Sen. Steve Daines has said he's attending his daughter's wedding back home in Montana on Saturday regardless of a possible weekend vote.
In a statement to The Associated Press on Thursday, Daines said two things would happen this weekend: There will be a new Supreme Court justice and Daines will walk his daughter down the aisle.
Daines has supported Kavanaugh throughout the confirmation process.
Trump said the protesters' "rage-fuelled resistance is starting to backfire at a level nobody has ever seen before," and in a tweet Friday alleged some of them were paid by special interests.
A hefty police presence added an air of anxiety, as did thousands of anti-Kavanaugh demonstrators. U.S. Capitol Police said 302 were arrested on Thursday.
Activists hold a protest and rally outside the Supreme Court in Washington on Thursday to oppose Kavanaugh. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
Ahead of Friday's voting, Republicans emerged confident that an FBI investigation into the allegations unearthed no new corroborating details, they said. But a level of uncertainty lingered as Collins and Flake spent hours Thursday poring over confidential FBI documents in the secure basement briefing room long after others had left seemingly satisfied with the findings.
Murkowski said she was "still reviewing" her decision.
Democrats complained that the investigation, running just six days after Trump reluctantly ordered it, was shoddy, omitting interviews with numerous potential witnesses. They accused the White House of limiting the FBI's leeway.
Those not interviewed in the reopened background investigation included Kavanaugh himself and Ford, who ignited the furor by alleging he had molested her in a locked room at a 1982 high school gathering. Republicans said their testimony last week was sufficient.
Grassley said the FBI reached out to 11 people and interviewed 10. Six of the witnesses involved Ford's claims, including an attorney for one of them, and four were related to Deborah Ramirez, who has asserted that Kavanaugh exposed himself to her when both were Yale freshmen. Grassley said the FBI concluded "there is no corroboration of the allegations made by Dr. Ford or Ms. Ramirez."
Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, second from right, and Senate judiciary committee chair Chuck Grassley of Iowa, centre rear, arrive to view the FBI report on Capitol Hill on Thursday. (Alex Brandon/Associated Press)
Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, who is weeks away from retirement, was dismissive of Kavanaugh protesters on Thursday.
A few women who identified themselves as sexual assault survivors approached Hatch and asked why he's backing Kavanaugh. Hatch, 84, waved and told them to "grow up" as he entered an elevator surrounded by aides.
As the women yelled at him from the hallway, Hatch smiled and waved.
Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing has been marred by allegations of sexual misconduct and intense protests.
Republicans Susan Collins of Maine and Jeff Flake of Arizona and Democrat Joe Manchin, who represents the red state of West Virginia, voted to advance the nomination while Republican Lisa Murkowski of Alaska did not.
Collins said she would announce at 3 p.m. ET her intention for the final Kavanaugh confirmation.
The Senate gaveled open with the GOP chairman of the judiciary committee, Chuck Grassley of Iowa, lauding the appellate court judge's deep credentials and lashing out at the "left wing" groups he said have tried to take down U.S. President Donald Trump's nominee as "nothing short of monstrous."
Trump tweeted Friday after the cloture vote: "Very proud of the U.S. Senate for voting 'YES' to advance the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh!"
"Let the confirmation process for Judge Kavanaugh be recorded as a sorry epilogue to the brazen theft of Justice Scalia's seat, and the ignominious end of bipartisan co-operation and consultation on the confirmation of Supreme Court justices," said Schumer.
Cloture on the Kavanaugh nomination has been invoked. Under the provisions of Rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, now begins up to 30 hours of debate on the nomination followed by a vote on confirmation.
—@SenateCloakroom
Kavanaugh, the 53-year-old Federal Court judge made what were in effect closing arguments in a Wall Street Journal op-ed late Thursday. He acknowledged that he became "very emotional" when forcefully denying the allegations at a judiciary committee hearing last week, in which the committee also heard from Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. Ford has accused Kavanagh of forcing her onto a bed during a high school party in 1982 and attempting to take her clothes off as he held his hand over her mouth to stifle her cries for help.
"I said a few things I should not have said," he wrote in the op-ed. But he said he remains the same "hardworking, even-keeled" person he has always been. "Going forward, you can count on me," he wrote in The Wall Street Journal.
Before Manchin, the second-last undecided Democratic senator to remain silent said on Thursday she would oppose Kavanaugh. North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, who faces a difficult re-election race next month, cited concerns about his "past conduct," as well as his temperament.
McConnell had hoped to press ahead for a Saturday vote after limiting debate, but it is unclear how Republicans will deal with a complication – Republican Sen. Steve Daines has said he's attending his daughter's wedding back home in Montana on Saturday regardless of a possible weekend vote.
In a statement to The Associated Press on Thursday, Daines said two things would happen this weekend: There will be a new Supreme Court justice and Daines will walk his daughter down the aisle.
Daines has supported Kavanaugh throughout the confirmation process.
Trump, Hatch mock protesters
Tensions have been high at the Capitol with opponents of Kavanaugh, including survivors of sexual assault, confronting senators in the halls and holding vigil across the street at the Supreme Court. Supporters of Kavanaugh also turned out.Trump said the protesters' "rage-fuelled resistance is starting to backfire at a level nobody has ever seen before," and in a tweet Friday alleged some of them were paid by special interests.
A hefty police presence added an air of anxiety, as did thousands of anti-Kavanaugh demonstrators. U.S. Capitol Police said 302 were arrested on Thursday.
Murkowski said she was "still reviewing" her decision.
Democrats complained that the investigation, running just six days after Trump reluctantly ordered it, was shoddy, omitting interviews with numerous potential witnesses. They accused the White House of limiting the FBI's leeway.
Those not interviewed in the reopened background investigation included Kavanaugh himself and Ford, who ignited the furor by alleging he had molested her in a locked room at a 1982 high school gathering. Republicans said their testimony last week was sufficient.
A few women who identified themselves as sexual assault survivors approached Hatch and asked why he's backing Kavanaugh. Hatch, 84, waved and told them to "grow up" as he entered an elevator surrounded by aides.
As the women yelled at him from the hallway, Hatch smiled and waved.
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