Kevin Daley, DCNF

The Senate voted 51-49 Friday to advance Supreme Court justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to a final vote.
Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski voted with Democrats in opposing the motion.
Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin joined Republicans in support.
The final confirmation vote could happen as early as Saturday afternoon.

The Senate voted Friday morning to end debate on Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court Friday morning, teeing up a final confirmation vote this weekend.

The motion passed on a 51-49 vote. Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska joined with Democrats in opposition, while Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia voted with the Republicans.

Two other lawmakers who hold the decisive vote on Kavanaugh’s confirmation, GOP Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Jeff Flake of Arizona, joined their Republican colleagues and voted in favor of cloture.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, makes her way to the Senate floor in the Capitol before voting “yes” on a cloture that advanced the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to a final vote on October 5, 2018. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

Senate Republicans will have to navigate another last-minute complication. A spokesperson for GOP Sen. Steve Daines of Montana said the senator will leave the Capitol Saturday for his daughter’s wedding, leaving the tenuous Republican majority shorthanded ahead of the narrow confirmation vote.

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) gets into a service elevator after exiting the Office of Senate Security, which houses a ‘sensitive compartmented information facility,’ or SCIF, where Senators are able to view the the FBI report about alleged sexual assaults by Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh, on Capitol Hill, October 4, 2018 in Washington, DC. Kavanaugh’s confirmation process was halted for less than a week so that FBI investigators could look into allegations by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, a California professor who has accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her during a party in 1982 when they were high school students in suburban Maryland. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Vice President Mike Pence will remain in Washington throughout the weekend, should the Senate evenly split requiring his tie-breaking vote. A Supreme Court justice has never been confirmed by a vice president’s tie-breaking vote.

Senior lawmakers of both parties spoke on the Senate floor in advance of the cloture vote. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley of Iowa accused Democrats of debasing the confirmation process, while Democrats warned of possible damage to the Supreme Court’s reputation and legitimacy given Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s accusation of sexual misconduct against the nominee.

“This should’ve been a respectable and dignified confirmation process,” Grassley said. “In a previous era, this highly qualified nominee would’ve received unanimous support in the Senate. Before left-wing outside groups and Democratic leaders had him in their sights, Judge Kavanaugh possessed an impeccable reputation and was held in high esteem by the bench and bar alike.”

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) walks to the Senate floor for a cloture vote on the nomination of Supreme Court Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court, at the U.S. Capitol, October 5, 2018 in Washington, DC. The Senate voted 51-49 in a procedural vote to advance the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Protests roiled the Capitol throughout the day. Several thousand demonstrators rallied inside Senate office buildings and marched about the Capitol complex, waving picket signs and chanting anti-Kavanaugh slogans. Protests are expected to continue throughout the weekend.

President Donald Trump denounced the protestors on Twitter Friday, styling the demonstrators “elevator screamers,” in an apparent reference to an encounter GOP Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona had with anti-Kavanaugh activists as he boarded an elevator last Friday.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) walks off the Senate floor after a cloture vote on the nomination of Supreme Court Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court, at the U.S. Capitol on October 5, 2018 in Washington, DC. The Senate voted 51-49 in a procedural vote to advance the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

A final confirmation vote could follow as early as Saturday afternoon, but could be delayed in view of the Daines wedding, should the GOP need his vote to confirm Kavanaugh.

FULL ROLL CALL:

SENATORS WHO VOTED AGAINST ADVANCING KAVANAUGH’S NOMINATION:

Baldwin, Tammy (D-WI)
Bennet, Michael F. (D-CO)
Blumenthal, Richard (D-CT)
Booker, Cory A. (D-NJ)
Brown, Sherrod (D-OH)
Cantwell, Maria (D-WA)
Cardin, Benjamin L. (D-MD)
Carper, Thomas R. (D-DE)
Casey, Robert P., Jr. (D-PA)
Coons, Christopher A. (D-DE)
Cortez Masto, Catherine (D-NV)
Donnelly, Joe (D-IN)
Duckworth, Tammy (D-IL)
Durbin, Richard J. (D-IL)
Feinstein, Dianne (D-CA)
Gillibrand, Kirsten E. (D-NY)
Harris, Kamala D. (D-CA)
Hassan, Margaret Wood (D-NH)
Heinrich, Martin (D-NM)
Heitkamp, Heidi (D-ND)
Hirono, Mazie K. (D-HI)
Jones, Doug (D-AL)
Kaine, Tim (D-VA)
King, Angus S., Jr. (I-ME)
Klobuchar, Amy (D-MN)
Leahy, Patrick J. (D-VT)
Markey, Edward J. (D-MA)
McCaskill, Claire (D-MO)
Menendez, Robert (D-NJ)
Merkley, Jeff (D-OR)
Murkowski, Lisa (R-AK)
Murphy, Christopher (D-CT)
Murray, Patty (D-WA)
Nelson, Bill (D-FL)
Peters, Gary C. (D-MI)
Reed, Jack (D-RI)
Sanders, Bernard (I-VT)
Schatz, Brian (D-HI)
Schumer, Charles E. (D-NY)
Shaheen, Jeanne (D-NH)
Smith, Tina (D-MN)
Stabenow, Debbie (D-MI)
Tester, Jon (D-MT)
Udall, Tom (D-NM)
Van Hollen, Chris (D-MD)
Warner, Mark R. (D-VA)
Warren, Elizabeth (D-MA)
Whitehouse, Sheldon (D-RI)
Wyden, Ron (D-OR)

SENATORS WHO VOTED IN FAVOR OF ADVANCING KAVANAUGH’S NOMINATION:

Alexander, Lamar (R-TN)
Barrasso, John (R-WY)
Blunt, Roy (R-MO)
Boozman, John (R-AR)
Burr, Richard (R-NC)
Capito, Shelley Moore (R-WV)
Cassidy, Bill (R-LA)
Collins, Susan M. (R-ME)
Corker, Bob (R-TN)
Cornyn, John (R-TX)
Cotton, Tom (R-AR)
Crapo, Mike (R-ID)
Cruz, Ted (R-TX)
Daines, Steve (R-MT)
Enzi, Michael B. (R-WY)
Ernst, Joni (R-IA)
Fischer, Deb (R-NE)
Flake, Jeff (R-AZ)
Gardner, Cory (R-CO)
Graham, Lindsey (R-SC)
Grassley, Chuck (R-IA)
Hatch, Orrin G. (R-UT)
Heller, Dean (R-NV)
Hoeven, John (R-ND)
Hyde-Smith, Cindy (R-MS)
Inhofe, James M. (R-OK)
Isakson, Johnny (R-GA)
Johnson, Ron (R-WI)
Kennedy, John (R-LA)
Kyl, Jon (R-AZ)
Lankford, James (R-OK)
Lee, Mike (R-UT)
Manchin, Joe, III (D-WV)
McConnell, Mitch (R-KY)
Moran, Jerry (R-KS)
Paul, Rand (R-KY)
Perdue, David (R-GA)
Portman, Rob (R-OH)
Risch, James E. (R-ID)
Roberts, Pat (R-KS)
Rounds, Mike (R-SD)
Rubio, Marco (R-FL)
Sasse, Ben (R-NE)
Scott, Tim (R-SC)
Shelby, Richard C. (R-AL)
Sullivan, Dan (R-AK)
Thune, John (R-SD)
Tillis, Thom (R-NC)
Toomey, Patrick J. (R-PA)
Wicker, Roger F. (R-MS)
Young, Todd (R-IN)

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