Key Republicans undecided

GOP barrels toward Kavanaugh vote with key Republicans undecided

The Senate Judiciary Committee is moving toward a Friday vote, and GOP leaders are planning to keep the chamber in session on Saturday.

By BURGESS EVERETT and JOHN BRESNAHAN

Senate Republicans are racing to confirm Brett Kavanaugh, betting that the Supreme Court nominee was persuasive enough in his denial that he sexually assaulted a high school acquaintance to counter the powerful testimony of his accuser, Christine Blasey Ford.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is planning to vote on Friday morning to advance Kavanaugh’s nomination to the full Senate floor. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) then plans a Saturday procedural vote to formally move to the nomination, with a potential confirmation vote as early as Tuesday.

Publicly, Republicans do not have the votes yet to confirm Kavanaugh, but GOP leaders seem confident they can push him through with brute force. Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) wouldn’t say whether undecided Republicans would back Kavanaugh.

“We’re still talking through all those issues, and I’m optimistic we’ll get to confirmation,” Cornyn said as he left the Capitol.

Everyone is watching Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), the undecided Republican on the Judiciary Committee who must weigh in on Kavanaugh on Friday and will determine whether or not he receives a favorable recommendation in the committee. Flake is agonizing over the decision, he said, and seemed to be vacillating on where he'll land, viewing both Kavanaugh and Ford as credible on Thursday.

“If you’re making an allegation, you want there to be some corroboration. And that’s a tough standard,” Flake told reporters late Thursday as he left the Capitol. “I want to give it some thought tonight. I do. So, this is a tough decision. It really is.”

Kavanaugh picked up a key Republican vote shortly after a full GOP conference meeting immediately following Kavanaugh’s hearing, as Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) announced he would support the nominee. Corker and Flake were key to applying the brakes to Kavanaugh’s confirmation in order to hear out Ford.

But Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) remain undecided. Those two moderate Republicans, along with Flake and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), met privately before the Republican meeting to discuss the nomination. Manchin said no one in the room gave anything away on how they will come down.

Then, in the full GOP conference meeting, Murkowski, Collins and Flake offered their colleagues no signal of where they would land, according to an attendee. Rachel Mitchell, a lawyer who was retained by the Senate GOP to question Ford, broke down her analysis of the testimony to Republicans, but did not advise them how to vote. She told them that as a prosecutor she would not charge Kavanaugh or even pursue a search warrant, according to a person briefed on the meeting.

Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) would not say how he would vote as he left the meeting. Sasse, one of the most vocal Trump critics in the Senate, said Mitchell gave Republicans in the room a “30-ish minute” presentation during which she laid out “facts that were established and not established.”

Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) received three standing ovations from Republicans for how he conducted the hearing. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who skewered Democrats for what he called a “despicable” attempt to derail Kavanaugh’s nomination, also received applause from the GOP, said Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.).

"There was an awful lot of exchange back and forth but it wasn't always positive,” Roberts said of the Republican gathering.

In addition to Manchin, Democratic Sens. Joe Donnelly of Indiana and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota are viewed as potential votes for Kavanaugh. All are up for reelection in red states. Senators and aides expect that Donnelly, Manchin, Murkowski and Collins will all vote the same way, though which way that is remains unclear.

Democrats believe Heitkamp could vote no. But her opponent in her Senate race, Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), said he expects her to support the nominee despite Ford’s allegations.

Grassley declined to forecast how he thinks the critical Judiciary Committee meeting will go on Friday. “We’re meeting at 9:30 a.m., that’s all I can tell you,” he said. “There will be a debate starting at 9:30.”

His panel has 11 Republicans and 10 Democrats; only Flake's vote is in play. McConnell can bring Kavanaugh's nomination to the Senate floor regardless of whether he receives a favorable committee vote.

After the committee acts, McConnell is expected to move to a procedural vote on Saturday. If that's successful, another procedural vote would occur on Monday, and a final vote on Tuesday.

Kavanaugh needs at least 50 votes to be confirmed; Vice President Mike Pence would vote if the chamber is evenly split. If all Democrats vote against Kavanaugh, it would take two Republicans voting "no" to block his confirmation.