WASHINGTON, Oct 6, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the
US Supreme Court appeared all but assured Friday after two key lawmakers
signaled their support, in a major boost for President Donald Trump.
Senate Republican Susan Collins affirmed in a closely-watched floor speech
that she will vote for the conservative jurist nominated by Trump, and
moments later Democrat Joe Manchin broke ranks to announce his own backing.
Their declarations brought the number of senators publicly supporting the
53-year-old judge — who has faced accusations of sexual assault — to 51 in
the 100-member chamber.
A final confirmation vote is expected Saturday afternoon.
Kavanaugh’s nomination was left teetering on the edge after university
psychology professor Christine Blasey Ford testified last week that he tried
to rape her when they were high school students.
Her harrowing testimony sparked a delay of the vote and a supplemental FBI
investigation on the allegations.
But her lawyers say the investigation was insufficient.
“An FBI investigation that did not include interviews of Dr Ford and Judge
Kavanaugh is not a meaningful investigation in any sense of the word,” they
said in a statement quoted in US media.
Collins, a moderate, pro-choice lawmaker from Maine, said Kavanaugh was
entitled to the “presumption of innocence” as the allegations against him
lacked corroborating evidence.
While acknowledging that Blasey Ford’s testimony was sincere, painful and
compelling, and that the accuser is a sexual assault survivor, Collins added:
“I do not believe that these charges can fairly prevent Judge Kavanaugh from
serving on the court.”
Immediately after that speech, Manchin announced his support, calling
Kavanaugh a “qualified jurist” who “will not allow the partisan nature this
process took to follow him onto the court.”
Manchin faces extraordinary political pressure. He is up for re-election in
West Virginia, a state Trump won overwhelmingly in 2016.
Earlier, the Senate voted 51-49 to end debate on Kavanaugh’s nomination,
setting up a final showdown on Saturday.
The outcome had remained in doubt, however, after one Republican, Lisa
Murkowski, defied her party and voted against moving ahead.
Trump nevertheless cheered the result of the cloture vote.
“Very proud of the US Senate for voting ‘YES’ to advance the nomination of
Judge Brett Kavanaugh!” the president tweeted.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders thanked Collins for “standing by your
convictions and doing the right thing,” while former president George HW Bush
saluted her “political courage and class.”
– ‘Dark money’ –
If he wins confirmation, Kavanaugh — who has faced a bruising process that
raised questions over his candor and partisan rhetoric, and his lifestyle as
a young man — will seal a conservative majority on the nine-seat high court
for years to come.
Trump took the brutal battle to a new stage earlier Friday when he
dismissed female anti-Kavanaugh protesters who have cited their own
experiences of sexual assault as “elevator screamers.”
The president claimed billionaire financier George Soros, a frequent target
of conservatives, was behind their demonstrations.
“The very rude elevator screamers are paid professionals only looking to
make Senators look bad. Don’t fall for it!” he tweeted.
Collins appeared to fall in line with Trump’s accusation that outside
funding was being pumped into the process, as she slammed the “unprecedented
amount of dark money opposing this nomination.”
The confirmation process has gripped Washington and the nation, aggravating
already deep political divisions with just weeks to go before mid-term
congressional elections.
Among those closely watched is Republican Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona, a
frequent Trump critic who is not running for re-election and has expressed
concern about Kavanaugh.
He voted to advance the nominee, then told reporters that barring any
dramatic changes, he will vote yes on Kavanaugh’s confirmation.
– ‘Vote no’ –
Murkowski described her decision to oppose Kavanaugh as “agonizing,” and
said that while she hopes he will be a “neutral arbiter” on the court, she
“could not conclude that he is the right person for the court at this time.”
Protesters have spent days in Washington urging swing senators like Collins
and Murkowski to vote no. On Thursday, 302 people were arrested and charged
with unlawfully demonstrating inside the Senate complex.
Dozens of people crowded into Collins’s office pleading with her staff to
tell the senator to oppose Kavanaugh, to no avail.
Trump’s reference to Soros, who has supported pro-democracy movements
around the world and the US Democratic Party for years, appeared to aim at
inciting more support and anger from the president’s conservative Christian
base.
The Jewish billionaire is frequently described by arch-conservatives as a
behind-the-scenes operator driving liberal and progressive movements —
criticisms that have prompted counteraccusations of anti-Semitism.
But Democrats were still arguing that there had been too little effort made
to investigate the allegations against Kavanaugh.