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Politics

Senate advances Kavanaugh Supreme Court nomination

By
Nikki Schwab,
Lia Eustachewich and
Bob Fredericks
Published Oct. 5, 2018
Updated Oct. 5, 2018, 12:46 p.m. ET

The GOP-led Senate paved the way for a final vote on Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court Friday morning, voting 51-49 to end debate on President Trump’s controversial nominee.

The crucial procedural vote – known as cloture – hinged on GOP Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Jeff Flake of Arizona and Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski, as well as Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, of West Virginia, a state won by Trump.

Collins and Flake voted yes, while Murkowski voted no after changing her mind from voting yes on the way to the Senate hearing, NBC News reported, without explaining her thinking.

Manchin voted yes — after spending the past week on the fence.

Republicans hold a slim 51-49 majority in the Senate and needed every single vote to advance Kavanaugh’s nomination.

The cloture vote was a good indication of which way the final vote on Kavanaugh’s confirmation will tip, and Trump hailed the development on Twitter.

“Very proud of the U.S. Senate for voting “YES” to advance the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh!” he wrote.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has vowed to hold the final vote on Saturday.

Collins said she would announce her final decision on Kavanaugh at 3 p.m.

But Flake has already indicated he would vote to confirm Kavanaugh, who had been dogged by accusations of sexual misconduct by California college professor Christine Blasey Ford and his former fellow Yalie Deborah Ramirez.

Brett Kavanaugh
Brett KavanaughAP

Ford said a drunken Kavanaugh forced her onto a bed at a high school drinking part 36 years ago, groped her and tried to take off her clothes.

Ramirez said that a pie-eyed Kavanaugh exposed himself to her during another drinking session in a Yale dorm.

The nominee has repeatedly denied the charges, and explained his combative behavior before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing last week in an op-ed in Friday’s Wall Street Journal.

“My hearing testimony was forceful and passionate… I know that my tone was sharp, and I said a few things I should not have said,” the judge admitted.