Brett Kavanaugh appears headed to becoming a Supreme Court justice by the most narrow margin since 1881.
The embattled judge cleared a key hurdle this morning as Senators voted 51-49 to end debate on Kavanaugh’s nomination, setting up a final vote to confirm Kavanaugh for Saturday afternoon.
It was a dramatic moment on the Senate floor as Kavanaugh did not know even an hour before the vote whether he would muster the 51 votes needed to advance because four undecided senators — Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) — declined to announce their positions.
Kavanaugh’s nomination got a last-minute boost when Flake, Manchin and Collins voted to end debate on Kavanaugh’s nomination. Manchin was the only Democrat to vote “yes.”
Murkowski, however, voted against advancing the nomination, the only Republican to do so.
Senate Republicans acknowledged ahead of time that they might not know the outcome of the vote by the time it started — an unusual move for a leadership team that likes to keep a tight grip on floor action.
While Murkowski is now seen as a likely “no” vote, Collins will make an announcement on if she will vote to confirm him until 3 p.m., setting up a must-watch moment on the Senate floor.
Republicans hold a slim two-seat majority in the Senate, which allows them to lose one vote from their conference and still confirm Kavanaugh without Democratic help.
The vote’s drama was upped a notch Thursday evening when Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) announced that he would leave Washington after the procedural vote to fly to Montana for his daughter’s wedding, possibly leaving Republicans short-handed for the final confirmation vote.