Baltimore Sun

Kavanaugh gets votes to confirm

Three undecided senators announce intention to back him today

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WASHINGTON — Judge Brett Kavanaugh secured the support needed Friday to win Senate confirmati­on to the Supreme Court as two Republican­s and a Democrat who had waited to announce their votes rallied to the side of President Donald Trump’s nominee.

The announceme­nt of support by Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine; Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz.; and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., capped a bitter partisan fight in which Kavanaugh fended off allegation­s of decades-old sexual misconduct.

In a key procedural vote earlier Friday, Collins, Flake and Manchin joined with the majority in a 51-49 vote to advance Kavanaugh’s nomination. Following the vote, all three senators indicated that they plan to support Kavanaugh’s confirmati­on in a final vote today. Ex-students critical of nun’s opposition NEWS PG 12

In a speech on the Senate floor, Collins said that Kavanaugh had “received rave reviews” for his 12 years as a federal appeals court judge and that the misconduct allegation­s against him failed to meet a standard of “more likely than not.”

Manchin, a red-state Democrat up for re-election next month, said shortly afterward that while he had reservatio­ns, he “found Judge Kavanaugh to be a qualified jurist who will follow the Constituti­on and determine cases based on the legal findings before him.” Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, talks to journalist­s following her speech Friday on the Senate floor, where she announced she would support the nominee.

Earlier in the day, Flake also indicated that he plans to vote for Kavanaugh’s confirmati­on, which is scheduled for today, “unless something big changes.”

The final confirmati­on vote needs support from at least 50 senators. The final tally for Kavanaugh's confirmati­on would be either 51-49 or 50-49, depending on whether Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., casts a ballot. He was planning to attend his daughter's wedding in his home state when the voting occurs. Vice President Mike Pence could cast a tie-breaking vote if necessary.

Trump nominated Kavanaugh in July to succeed retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy, a move that triggered an intense partisan battle over the court’s future well before the first allegation of misconduct surfaced from Christine Blasey Ford, who accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her at a suburban Maryland home when they were teenagers in 1982.

The nomination collided with the #MeToo movement and midterm election politics and could alter the balance of power on the Supreme Court for a generation.

Friday’s vote came after Trump mocked Ford this week at a political rally and Republican­s on the Judiciary Committee issued a statement purportedl­y describing the sex life of another accuser, attacks that advocates for victims decried.

Confirmati­on of Kavanaugh would be a crowning achievemen­t for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who blocked a Democratic nominee to the court for more than a year and has muscled dozens of appeals and district court nominees through the Senate.

In Friday morning’s procedural votes, all Democrats but Manchin stood firm against elevating Kavanaugh to the nation’s highest court.

Underscori­ng the strength of Democratic opposition, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called Kavanaugh’s nomination “one of he saddest, most sordid Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, speaks to journalist­s after she voted against confirming Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. Murkowski was the only Republican to vote against the nominee, saying, "He's not the right man for the court at this time." chapters in the long history of the federal judiciary.”

Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski was the only GOP senator to break with her party. Murkowski said she made up her mind to vote against advancing Kavanaugh’s nomination as she entered the chamber to vote Friday. “I believe that Brett Kavanaugh is a good man,” she said. “I believe he is a good man. It just may be that in my view he’s not the right man for the court at this time.”

The afternoon was tense as senators awaited Collins’ floor speech. As she began to speak, protesters stood up in the gallery, yelling, “Vote no! Show up for Maine women!” Collins just looked down until all had been escorted away from the gallery.

At the end of a nearly 45-minute speech, when Collins said she would vote to confirm Kavanaugh, McConnell led a standing ovation. He then went over and shook her hand, as did several other GOP senators. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, who presided over Kavanaugh’s confirmati­on hearing, gave her a bear hug.

When Manchin emerged from his office soon afterward to talk to reporters, protesters were waiting and drowned him out shouting “Shame, shame, shame,” “You betrayed us” and “Think of your daughters,” among other things.

The last of the undecided votes began falling into place Friday after the senators reviewed a highly anticipate­d report from the FBI investigat­ing allegation­s of misconduct against Kavanaugh while in high school and college in the early 1980s.

Republican­s argued the report exonerated Kavanaugh of any wrongdoing, giving senators more confidence in voting to confirm him. But Democrats disputed the Republican­s’ assertions, especially because, they argued, the scope of the investigat­ion was too limited.

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MELINA MARA/THE WASHINGTON POST
 ?? MELINA MARA/THE WASHINGTON POST ??
MELINA MARA/THE WASHINGTON POST

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