WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Senate braced for a crucial initial vote Friday on Brett Kavanaugh’s tottering Supreme Court nomination after Majority Leader Mitch McConnell set his polarized chamber on a schedule to decide an election-season battle that has consumed the nation. A showdown roll call over confirmation seemed likely over the weekend.
McConnell, R-Kentucky, cemented the process late Wednesday, several hours before the FBI delivered to an anxious Senate the potentially fateful report on claims that Kavanaugh sexually abused women. With Republicans clinging to a razor-thin 51-49 majority and five senators — including three Republicans — still vacillating, the conservative jurist’s prospects of Senate confirmation remained murky and dependent, in part, on the file’s contents, which are supposed to be kept secret.
“There will be plenty of time for members to review and be briefed on the supplemental material” before Friday’s vote, McConnell said to the nearly empty chamber.
To read the rest of “Collins says FBI report ‘appears to be very thorough’ as Senate prepares for Friday vote,” an article by Associated Press writers Alan Fram and Lisa Mascaro, please follow this link to the BDN online.
