WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh (all times local):
10:15 a.m.
The Senate vote on confirming Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court is certain to be close, even if the outcome is no longer suspenseful. Enough senators have indicated they will support him Saturday to put him over the edge, with a likely margin of two votes. That’s barring a last-minute change of mind.
But will the vote match the closest in history?
The closest confirmation votes for a Supreme Court nominee were decided by a single vote. In 1881, Justice Stanley Matthews prevailed in a vote of 24-23. In 1861, nominee Jeremiah Black was defeated by a vote of 26-25.
Among current justices, the confirmation of Clarence Thomas in 1991 was the closest, with a vote of 52-48. Eleven Democrats voted for Thomas, while two Republicans opposed his confirmation.
The vice president can vote in the event of a Senate tie. That’s never happened in a Supreme Court confirmation.
___
9:30 a.m.
Melania (meh-LAH’-nee-ah) Trump is offering some supportive words for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Here’s what she tells reporters traveling with her in Egypt: “I think he’s highly qualified for the Supreme Court.”
The first lady is wrapping up a four-country tour of Africa.
Speaking to reporters near the Great Sphinx, she says she’s glad that both Kavanaugh and his accuser, Christine Blasey (BLAH’-zee) Ford, were heard.
Without weighing in on the sexual assault allegations that Ford leveled against Kavanaugh, Mrs. Trump says victims of “any kind of abuse or violence” must be helped. Kavanaugh denies the accusation.
The Senate is expected to confirm Kavanaugh on Saturday.
___
8 a.m.
Democrats don’t seem to have the votes to keep Brett Kavanaugh from joining the Supreme Court, but that’s not stopping them from taking to the Senate floor in a parade of speeches into the early morning against the conservative jurist.
Hours before the expected roll call vote that would elevate the appeals court judge to the nation’s highest court, Democrats are making clear their strong opposition.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (KEER’-sten JIHL’-uh-brand) of New York says there’s one fundamental question for senators when they decide Kavanaugh’s fate: “Do we, as a country, value women?”
Gillibrand says women who’ve experienced sexual trauma are “tired of the same old scenario where the men are believed and the women are not.”
Allegations against Kavanaugh arose late in the confirmation process that he sexually abused women decades ago. He’s emphatically denied the accusations.
Gillibrand says that after the way Anita Hill was treated by the Senate during the Clarence Thomas hearings in 1991, “we said it would never happen again. But it did.”
___
12:30 a.m.
Brett Kavanaugh seems assured of surviving a Supreme Court nomination fight for the ages after two wavering senators said they’d back him.
The announcements Friday by Republican Susan Collins of Maine and Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia came after weeks of shocking accusations, hardball politics and Capitol protests.
Their support makes Saturday’s vote to confirm Kavanaugh an apparent formality after a battle that riveted the nation for nearly a month.
Republicans control the Senate by a 51-49 margin, and Saturday’s roll call vote seems destined to be nearly party-line, with just a single defector from each side.
The vote caps a contest fought against the backdrop of the #MeToo movement and President Donald Trump’s unyielding support of his Supreme Court nominee.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.