Brett Kavanaugh poised for final vote approaches
Republicans in the US Senate, with the help of a lone Democrat, have voted to advance Brett Kavanaugh to a final floor vote, propelling the embattled federal judge one step closer to the supreme court.
Faced with multiple allegations of sexual misconduct and concerns over his impartiality, Kavanaugh cleared a key procedural hurdle on Friday in a narrow 51-49 vote that fell sharply along party lines.
The outcome paved the way for a final vote as early as Saturday, which was poised to confirm Donald Trump’s pick for America’s highest court after a handful of key senators said they would back Kavanaugh on the Senate floor.
Two of the chamber’s closely watched moderate Republican senators, Jeff Flake of Arizona and Susan Collins of Maine, voted to advance Kavanaugh, while Lisa Murkowski of Alaska voted against the judge. Joe Manchin, a senator up for re-election in conservative West Virginia, was the lone Democrat to break with his party.
Murkowski told reporters the vote on Kavanaugh was among “the most difficult evaluation[s]” of her career.
“I believe he is a good man,” she told reporters, while adding: “He’s not the right man for the court at this time.”
Kavanaugh was nominated by Trump in July to replace the retiring justice Anthony Kennedy, a conservative who often acted as a swing vote on issues ranging from LGBT rights to abortion. If confirmed to the lifetime post, Kavanaugh would shift the court in a staunchly conservative direction for decades to come.
The Republican majority leader, Mitch McConnell, dismissed the controversy over Kavanaugh’s nomination as part of an orchestrated campaign by Democrats and liberal activists.
“Before the ink had dried on Justice Kennedy’s retirement, our Democratic colleagues made it perfectly clear what this process would be about: delay, obstruct and resist,” McConnell said.
Thousands of protesters, many of them survivors of sexual assault, flocked to the nation’s capital in recent days with a final appeal to lawmakers to reject Kavanaugh. More than 300 were arrested on Thursday after overtaking one of the buildings that houses the offices of several US senators. On Friday, capitol police arrested more than 100 people, many for “crowding” and “obstructing” in senate offices.
Trump denounced the protesters in a Friday morning tweet claiming, without evidence, that they had been hired by liberal organizers. “The very rude elevator screamers are paid professionals only looking to make Senators look bad. Don’t fall for it!” the president wrote.
Trump and Republicans have stood squarely behind Kavanaugh and insisted an FBI investigation into the allegations against him cleared the judge of any wrongdoing. Democrats, meanwhile, condemned the investigation, the results of which were made available to senators on Thursday, as preordained and dictated by the White House.
Investigators did not interview Kavanaugh or Dr Christine Blasey Ford, the research psychologist who alleged he attempted to rape her when the two were teenagers in the early 1980s. Ford’s legal team complained that several witnesses who could help corroborate her account were not contacted. Deborah Ramirez, a second accuser who said Kavanaugh exposed himself to her while the two attended Yale, voiced similar frustration.