From the
Guardian, which for some reason was the only source I could find that would lay the results out plainly:
Senate votes to advance Kavanaugh’s nomination to final vote.
The Senate voted 51-49 in favor of the cloture motion, which will bring an end to debate on Kavanaugh’s nomination to the supreme court.
The final vote on his confirmation could happen as early as tomorrow.
Support for cloture is not equivalent to support for Kavanaugh, so it’s not clear whether or not he will make it through.
A key senator, Republican Susan Collins of Maine, said she will reveal her plan for the final vote in a speech at 3pm this afternoon.
There's also an FBI investigation supplemental executive summary out, concluding that there is no corrobation for accusations against Kavanaugh, but strangely enough I can't find a link to it on any MSM sites except Fox. So here's a
link to Wolf Howling at Bookworm Room instead.
Also from the Guardian:
ReplyDeleteJoe Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia, votes yes for cloture.
The rest of the key swing senators voted:
Flake – Yes
Murkowski – No
Collins – Yes, but is announcing plan for final confirmation vote at 3pm ET.
An Ace commenter channels Murkowski: "I'm gonna wait for the final vote before I ask the President to declare polar bears an endangered species. And declare Alaskans to be delicious. And give the polar bears guns. Right to bear arms, it's all in the Constitution."
ReplyDeleteHalfway home.
ReplyDeleteIt's irritating to remember that Republican primary voters in Alaska already turned Murkowski out once before, in their primary. Who are the leaders in AK that turned out the vote for her write-in campaign, and what are they saying about Kavanaugh?
ReplyDeleteCollins (R-ish) is a yes, by the way, as of almost an hour ago. I meant to post that earlier. That leaves (1) Murkowski (R-ish), who has been signalling strongly that she's a "no," (2) Manchin (D), who has broken ranks to vote "yes," and (3) Flake (R-ish), who says he thinks he's a "yes" unless "something big changes." If all other Senators vote in lockstep with their parties, these votes would mean that Kavanaugh would be confirmed even without V.P. Mike Pence to break the tie, i.e. 51-49.
ReplyDeleteIt used to be you had to keep a sharp eye out for Graham as the third R-ish whose vote might be lost at a critical moment, but apparently not this time. :-)
Actually, I've heard they only require a simple majority, so 50-49 works. I think Montana Senator Daines will get to enjoy his daughters wedding and reception fully after all.
ReplyDeleteSure, we could get by with even a 49-49 vote, with Pence breaking the tie. (Assuming the missing D votes were trapped in Antarctica or something and we could be sure they wouldn't pop in at the last minute.) With a 51-49 vote, there's some wiggle room.
ReplyDelete