It looked like he had a clear path to becoming the next associate justice on the Supreme Court.
That is until Sunday night when Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) put the brakes on Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination.
Flake said he does not believe the Judiciary Committee should move ahead with its Thursday vote on Kavanaugh until the senators hear more from Christine Blasey Ford, the California psychology professor who went public with her accusation against Kavanaugh in a Washington Post investigation on Sunday.
Flake is one of 11 Republicans on the narrowly divided panel and without his support, the committee cannot advance his nomination.
Republicans hold a slim 11-to-10 majority in the Judiciary Committee and multiple Democrats have already vowed to vote against moving forward following Ford’s accusation.
Ford in the Post article accused Kavanaugh of attempted assault in the early 1980s, when they were students at neighboring high schools in the D.C. area. She said Kavanaugh held her down and attempted to take off her clothes at a party, at one point holding his hand over her mouth to prevent her from screaming.
“If they push forward without any attempt with hearing what she’s had to say, I’m not comfortable voting yes,” Flake said. “We need to hear from her. And I don’t think I’m alone in this.”
Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is also seeking more information on Ford’s account that Kavanaugh groped her, tried to pull off her clothes and covered her mouth when she tried to scream at a party in Maryland more than three decades ago.
A spokesman for Grassley said that given the new information about Kavanaugh and Ford revealing her identity after the allegations were first revealed anonymously, “Grassley is actively working to set up follow-up calls with Judge Kavanaugh and Dr. Ford ahead of Thursday’s scheduled vote.”
Democrats have called on the senate to postpone the Kavanaugh vote until after the November election.