Senate Judiciary Committee Votes to Move Judge Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court Nomination Forward
Just prior to 2 p.m., the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 11-10 in favor of advancing Judge Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court to the full Senate. The vote ran along party lines, with the committee's 11 Republicans in favor, and 10 Democrats opposed.
Yesterday, the committee heard testimony from Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Judge Kavanaugh about an assault that Dr. Ford alleges happened when the two were in high school.
The committee's job was to evaluate the testimony and decide whether to send Kavanaugh's nomination to the full Senate for a confirmation vote. With Republican Senator Jeff Flake, who was viewed as undecided, releasing a statement this morning saying he would vote to confirm Kavanaugh, it at first appeared to be a done deal.
But that was not quite the case–there was an unprecedented delay in the 1:30 p.m. vote because Flake was having "active" discussions with the Democratic committee members, per CNN. According to many reports, he seemed to have second thoughts about his vote, and senators were seen caucusing outside the committee room.
While Flake did vote with his GOP colleagues in the end to move the nomination forward, it was after making a statement that he would not be able to support Kavanaugh in a final vote without further "due diligence," and asked for the floor vote to delayed one week to allow for an FBI investigation that was "limited in time and scope." It's now up to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell when he brings the nomination to the floor, but he will want to make sure he has the votes before he does.
The Republicans hold a 51-seat majority, and Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Sen. Susan Collins are still undecided (as are Democratic Senators Joe Manchin, of West Virginia, and Heidi Heitkamp, of North Dakota).
"I am going to go home, have some dinner and have a chance to think about all that's gone on," Murkowski told reporters on Thursday night after the hearing when asked where she stands.
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