» Explainer: Behind the delay,
The Senate is planning to delay for a week action on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court after a series of developments Friday. Here’s what happened and what comes next:
What did the committee decide?
The Senate Judiciary Committee approved Kavanaugh’s nomination by 11-10, with strong objections from Democrats, and sent it to the full Senate.
The committee vote came a day after testimony from professor Christine Blasey Ford, who said she was “100 percent” certain that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were both in high school in the early 1980s. Kavanaugh emotionally and strongly denied the allegation when he testified after her.
But then what happened?
Just before the vote, Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., a member of the committee, joined Democrats in calling for a delay of up to one week in the final voting on Kavanaugh to allow for an FBI probe into the sexual assault allegations against him by Ford and other women.
Flake said he would not support final confirmation unless an investigation was conducted.
A preliminary vote by the full Senate was originally planned for today, with a final vote at the beginning of next week. Republicans were confident they would eventually get the votes for confirmation.
What was behind Flake’s move?
On Friday morning, Flake said he would vote to approve Kavanaugh, a key gesture of support.
Flake said he left Thursday’s hearing with “as much doubt as certainty.” But “I believe that the constitution’s provisions of fairness and due process apply here as well. I will vote to confirm Judge Kavanaugh.”
However, after he was confronted by protesters in the Capitol who told him they had been sexually assaulted, Flake appeared to have second thoughts about voting this weekend.
“I think it would be proper to delay the floor vote for up to but not more than one week in order to let the FBI do an investigation, limited in time and scope,” Flake said.
What’s next?
Senate Republican leaders on Friday agreed to Flake’s demand to delay the confirmation vote while the FBI investigates the latest allegations. The committee sent a request for further investigation to the White House.
After receiving the request, President Donald Trump said he would order the new probe.
For his part, Kavanaugh said he “will continue to cooperate.” Mark Judge, who knew Kavanaugh in high school and has been mentioned in some of the allegations, also said he would cooperate with investigators.
Will the Senate take any further action?
Republican leaders said they still plan to move ahead with a procedural vote on the nomination today while awaiting the results of the new FBI probe.