The American Bar Association is rethinking its conclusion that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is “well qualified”, according to news site Axios. Susan Collins of ME announced her decision to vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, a site raising money for Collins’ eventual opponent in her 2020 reelection bid crashed. “Don’t stop calling your senators and telling them to vote NO. Keep up the fight”, she said on Twitter.
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Manchin announced he would vote to confirm Kavanaugh, in spite of “reservations” about the allegations and the nominee’s temperament.
That would put the final tally at 51-49 in Kavanaugh’s favor. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who had been undecided.
Earlier Friday Collins was part of the majority that voted 51-49 to end debate.
Comments by two of them – Jeff Flake and Susan Collins – indicated the Federal Bureau of Investigation report, which was the latest twist in the pitched political battle over Kavanaugh, may have allayed their concerns about him.
Murkowski and Collins sat quietly and undisturbed at their adjacent desks as a clerk called the roll. Susan Collins of ME and Jeff Flake of Arizona voted yes, as did Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia. A final vote is expected Saturday.
“I believe that Brett Kavanaugh is a good man”.
“We have a hard time getting men on the committee”. The post also plugged a website to “cancel Kavanaugh”.
“I have extended this as a courtesy to my friend”, she added.
She said judges do lean left and right, but in general, the Supreme Court should be above politics.
Ingraham asked McConnell about a vague tweet from former Obama administration official Susan Rice, in which she appeared to threaten to run against Collins in her next reelection bid.
In the Capitol, however, both senators won praise from their colleagues.
“I think that holds a lesson with any senators looking to break ranks versus toeing the party line”, Rudnick said. Flake said he saw no additional corroborating information against Kavanaugh, although he was “still reading” it. And Lisa Murkowski of Alaska plans to vote “present” as a courtesy to Daines. “I know that it’s disturbing that she’s the only one willing to vote no”. Senators often partner like that to allow an absence without affecting the outcome.
Most obviously, that Murkowski is nearly certainly a “no” on Kavanaugh’s confirmation. And she still stuck to her conscience.
Daines, a Montana Republican who has supported Kavanaugh’s nomination, has been scheduled to attend his daughter’s wedding on Saturday for months and made it clear he wouldn’t be skipping the ceremony. She was re-elected in 2016. She has faced pressure from home state Alaskans, including Native Alaskan women, who have described the scourge of sexual assault.
Flake has frequently found himself at the center of Kavanaugh’s bitterly contested nomination, which will long be remembered for allegations of a decades-old sexual assault and Kavanaugh’s raw, angry denials. She specifically dismissed the accusations made by Julie Swetnick as “outlandish” (despite the fact that Swetnick was questioned by neither the Senate nor the FBI). “I might have been too emotional at times”, Kavanaugh wrote.
In retrospect the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh may turn out to be a great turning point in US constitutional law as he consummates a hard-core conservative majority likely to break cherished precedents and set a new path on issues ranging from reproductive rights to health care and the environment.
“Our Supreme Court confirmation process has been in steady decline for more than 30 years”.
It was this argument that Kavanaugh tried to address in an 11th hour op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, where he acknowledged there were things “I should not have said.’ He blasted Democrats for a coordinate campaign to smear him, and called it ‘revenge” for the Clintons.
Plus, on top of those realities is this one: Collins and Manchin both voted for cloture.
When Trump nominated Kavanaugh in July, Democrats leapt to oppose him, saying that past statements and opinions showed he’d be a threat to the Roe v. Wade case that assured the right to abortion. Manchin is favored to win re-election, but the Kavanaugh confirmation battle has fired up what was seen as a dormant Republican base.
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Murkowski also rendered her decision Friday in dramatic fashion. He’s widely known as a fair, smart, and independent judge, and he has the qualifications and experience necessary to ably serve on the Supreme Court.
