WASHINGTON — The Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled a vote for Thursday on the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh.
The vote follows four days of testimony surrounding his nomination last week, including two in which he answered a marathon of questions from senators on the committee.
Democrats, however, will likely delay the vote until next week, which they are allowed to do under committee rules. The nomination is expected to be reported out of committee along party lines. This timeline will likely set up a full Senate confirmation vote on Kavanaugh the week of Sept. 24.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said in an interview with Hugh Hewitt on MSNBC last week that he’ll be confirmed before the high court’s next term next month.
“Before the end of September he'll be on board at the Supreme Court, by the first Monday in October which you and I both know is the beginning of the October term,” McConnell said.
With the swearing-in of Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., last week to fill the seat left by the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., Kavanaugh looks to be on track for confirmation with the simple majority that’s needed. However, with the GOP's razor-thin Senate majority, he will need to earn support from all Republicans — including Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who have not yet publicly pledged to support his nomination — to avoid the need for any Democratic votes.
Some red state Democrats may also vote in favor of his nomination, though none has yet said they would vote to confirm him.
