The U.S. Senate voted to confirm Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court on Saturday, October 6, 2018. (Photo: AdobeStock/U.S. District Court of Appeals)
The U.S. Senate voted 50-48 to confirm Judge Brett Kavanaugh as the 114th justice to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court on Saturday, October 6, 2018. The floor vote was interrupted multiple times by leftwing activists — who have harassed members over the last several days — protesting the confirmation.
UPDATE: It’s official. Justice Brett Kavanaugh has been sworn ini as the 114th U.S. Supreme Court justice.
“I applaud and congratulate the U.S. Senate for confirming our GREAT NOMINEE, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, to the United States Supreme Court,” President Trump tweeted after the vote. “Later today, I will sign his Commission of Appointment, and he will be officially sworn in. Very exciting!”
I applaud and congratulate the U.S. Senate for confirming our GREAT NOMINEE, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, to the United States Supreme Court. Later today, I will sign his Commission of Appointment, and he will be officially sworn in. Very exciting!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 6, 2018
Senator Lisa Murkowski, R-Alas., announced she would vote “No,” though she withdrew it to vote “Present” for Senator Steve Daines, R-Mont. who supported the nomination. Senator Daines was attending his daughter’s wedding and could not be present Saturday for the vote.
Senator Susan Collins, R-Me., announced her support for the then-uncertain nomination in a passionate speech on the floor of the U.S. Senate Friday afternoon, warning the nation would be “ill-served in the long-term if we abandon the presumption of innocence and fairness, as tempting as it may be.”
Without her vote to consent, Vice President Mike Pence would’ve been needed to cast a tie-breaking vote. It would’ve been the first time in American history a vice president was needed to cast the tie-breaking vote on a nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court. Senator Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., also voted “Yes” and announced he would do so on Friday shortly after the speech.
The vulnerable incumbent Democrat is up for reelection in a state President Trump by nearly 40 points with nearly 70% of the vote. But without securing the votes themselves, his support was not reliable. A source tells PPD Senator Manchin called the White House to voice support for the nominee, but held out in an attempt to avoid becoming the 50th vote.
The projection for the U.S. Senate election in West Virginia is Slightly Democrat.
Judge Kavanaugh, 53, served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. President Donald Trump nominated the “Judge’s Judge” to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy, who announced a few weeks before that he would retire, effective July 31. He is the second U.S. Supreme Court justice nominated by President Trump and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, the first being Justice Neil Gorsuch.
The Senate Judiciary Committee began holding hearings for the confirmation on September 4. Despite Democrats’ repeated attempts to obstruct, pay protestors and stage outbursts, they didn’t land a glove on him.
Then, Professor Christine Blasey Ford, a liberal activist and Palo Alto University psychology professor, alleged Judge Kavanaugh attempted to rape her at a high-school party in or about 1982, when he was 17 and she was 15. She can’t be certain of the year, how she got to and from the event, and has even given various versions of the story.
There is no contemporaneous evidence. But multiple women subsequently came forward with their own allegations, all of which crumbled under scrutiny.
The FBI was ordered by President Trump last week to look into “recent and credible” allegations of sexual misconduct leveled against Judge Kavanaugh. Senator Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., joined Senate Democrats in calling for the investigation after Professor Ford and Judge Kavanaugh both testified before the committee.
The Senate Judiciary Committee cleared the nomination that same day, and the investigation not only found nothing to corroborate the allegations but also found evidence of witnesses being pressured to “revisit” their prior statement in order to corroborate the allegations.
Worth noting, Justice Gorsuch and soon-to-be Justice Kavanaugh both clerked for Justice Kennedy. The judge will need to take two oaths before being seated on the High Court, one as an employee of the federal judiciary and another for the Court, itself.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh could be seated with the Roberts Court as early as Tuesday. The High Court started their session on October 1, 2018, with an ideological split of 4-4.
The first oath will be administered by Chief Justice John Roberts and the other by former Justice Anthony Kennedy. Sources tell People’s Pundit Daily (PPD) the first oath will be administered tonight at the U.S. Supreme Court, and a swearing ceremony will likely take place on Monday afternoon at the White House.
