Kavanaugh Updates: Senators Joe Manchin, Susan Collins Say They Will Vote to Confirm Kavanaugh a Supreme Court Justice

By Seung Min Kim and John Wagner, The Washington Post

05 October 18

 

10/05/18 - 04:15:PM:EST

en. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) said Friday that they will vote to confirm Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, likely ensuring that President Trump’s nominee will ascend to the Supreme Court after a bitter partisan fight that has included allegations of decades-old sexual misconduct.

In a speech on the Senate floor, Collins, a swing vote, said 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.”

“I will vote to confirm Judge Kavanaugh,” Collins said at the end of remarks lasting about 45 minutes, prompting appaluse in the chamber.

The final confirmation vote, scheduled for Saturday, needs support from at least 50 senators. Vice President Pence would cast the tie-breaking vote if necessary.

Collins’s announcement followed a 51-to-49 vote earlier Friday on a procedural motion to advance Kavanaugh's’s nomination.

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ALSO SEE: Senator Murkowski Voted Against Kavanaugh. Read Her Remarks Declaring Why.

Senator Murkowski Votes No on Kavanaugh: 'Not the Right Man for the Court at This Time'

By Jeremy Herb and Clare Foran, CNN

05 October 18

 

10/05/18 - 01:50:PM:EST

epublican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska described President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh as "not the right man for the court at this time" and strongly signaled she will vote no in Kavanaugh's final confirmation vote on the US Senate floor.

After opposing a key procedural vote Friday morning on the nomination, Murkowski explained her vote to reporters, calling it "the most difficult evaluation" she has had to make.

"He's not the right man for the court at this time," the Alaska senator said. "So I have taken my vote here this morning. I'm going to go back to my office and write a floor statement that is more fulsome."

In a dramatic Friday morning vote, the Senate moved to end debate on the Kavanaugh nomination and advance to a final confirmation vote, which could take place as soon as Saturday.

Murkowski had been one of a handful of pivotal senators who remained publicly undecided on the nomination in the days leading up to Friday's vote.

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Senator Jeff Flake Says He Will Vote to Confirm Kavanaugh

By Seung Min Kim and John Wagner, The Washington Post

05 October 18

 

10/05/18 - 01:10:PM:EST

he Senate advanced Brett M. Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination in a key procedural vote Friday morning, putting him one step closer to confirmation and ending a deeply partisan and rancorous fight that has resonated well beyond Washington.

The chamber voted 51 to 49 to advance the nomination after Republican leaders secured the votes of two GOP senators and one Democrat who had not publicly announced their intentions before arriving to vote. A final confirmation vote could come Saturday.

The last of the undecided votes began falling into place after the senators reviewed a highly anticipated report from the FBI investigating allegations of decades-old sexual misconduct against Kavanaugh.

Sens. Jeff Flake (Ariz.) and Susan Collins (Maine), two of the Republican holdouts, voted to advance President Trump’s nominee, while Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) was the only GOP senator to break with her party. Sen. Joe Manchin III (W.Va.), a red-state Democrat up for reelection next month, was the only Democrat to support Kavanaugh.

Flake also indicated that he plans to vote for Kavanaugh’s confirmation on Saturday “unless something big changes,” which he said he doesn’t expect — a move that further bolsters the judge’s prospects.

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