Key Senators Back Supreme Court Pick
Republican Senator Susan Collins and Joe
Manchin, a Democrat, both indicated their backing for the judge on Friday.
Judge Kavanaugh's confirmation would tilt
America's highest court in favour of conservatives.
The court has the final say on issues such as
abortion and gun control.
A final vote on whether Judge Kavanaugh will
join the nine-member panel is scheduled for Saturday. If confirmed, the
position is for life.
Hours before the undecided senators indicated
their backing, the US Senate narrowly advanced President Donald Trump's nominee
to a final vote by voting to strictly limit debate on the issue.
Friday's "cloture" vote - 51-49 in
favour - was a test of support for the embattled nominee who has faced sexual
assault allegations from several women, including Prof Christine Blasey Ford.
Senator Collins ended hopes she would side
with her Democratic colleagues in the final vote, telling Senate colleagues she
did not believe the "charges can fairly prevent Judge Kavanaugh from
serving on the court".
"The facts presented do not mean that
Professor Ford was not sexually assaulted that night or at some other time but
they do lead me to conclude that the allegations failed to meet the more likely
than not standard," she said.
Senator Manchin, who
is up for re-election in West Virginia, a traditionally Republican state that
Mr Trump won by a landslide, told the Senate moments later he "found Judge
Kavanaugh to be a qualified jurist who will follow the constitution and
determine cases based on the legal findings before him".
The reaction has
been swift, with former president George HW Bush and White House press
secretary Sarah Sanders both tweeting their support for Ms Collins.
.@SenatorCollins — political courage and
class. I salute my wonderful friend and her principled leadership.
End
of Twitter post by @GeorgeHWBush
Thank you @SenatorCollins for standing by your
convictions and doing the right thing to confirm Judge Kavanaugh.
End
of Twitter post by @PressSec
Mr Manchin, however,
has found himself in the firing line.
A liberal group
which raises money for Democratic candidates, Priorities USA, immediately said
it would not be giving any funds to his re-election campaign.
Outside, protesters
shouted "shame on you" as Mr Manchin spoke to reporters about his
decision.
Meanwhile, a tweet
asking someone to run for Ms Collins' seat in Maine when it comes up for
re-election in 2020 from former White House communication chief, Jen Psaki, had
a swift response from former UN ambassador Susan Rice.
End
of Twitter post by @AmbassadorRice
She later clarified she was "not making any
announcements" but was " deeply disappointed in Senator Collins' vote for
Kavanaugh".
Alaska's Lisa
Murkowski - a Republican who voted against the nomination earlier on Friday -
is yet to officially say which way she will vote on Saturday.
Judge Kavanaugh has
faced sexual assault allegations from several women, most prominently from Prof
Ford.
In public testimony
last week Prof Ford said she had been assaulted by Judge Kavanaugh when they
were both teenagers in 1982.
Judge Kavanaugh
denied the claim - and allegations that he drank to the point of memory loss at
the time - in a feisty confrontation with senators.
After the testimony,
President Trump agreed to a new FBI inquiry.
Federal agents are
believed to have spoken to five witnesses regarding Prof Ford's accusations and
another four other witnesses involving a separate accusation by Deborah
Ramirez, who said the nominee had exposed himself to her when they were both at
Yale University. He denies Ms Ramirez's allegations, too.
Mr Trump and his
fellow Republicans said the new FBI report had cleared their nominee.
But
Democratic senators said it had been incomplete.
The
lawyers of both women have also complained that several witnesses they had
offered to the FBI to corroborate their claims had not been contacted at all.
FROM.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada
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