Democrat Joe Manchin announces support for Brett Kavanaugh confirmation

It’s very likely that alleged sexual assaulter Brett Kavanaugh will be confirmed on Saturday as a U.S. Supreme Court judge.

Today’s vote will boost Donald Trump’s drive to secure conservative dominance of the United States’ highest court.

Mr Kavanaugh actually only needed a 50-50 vote, as that would have forced a tie-breaker in his favour from Mr Pence. Police stood guard at the doors.

The outcome, telegraphed Friday when the final undeclared senators revealed their views, was devoid of the shocks that had come nearly daily since Christine Blasey Ford said last month that an inebriated Kavanaugh tried to rape her at a 1982 high school get-together.

President Trump said he is “100 percent” certain that Christine Blasey Ford named the wrong person when she accused Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault in testimony during his Supreme Court nomination hearings.

Reaction against Collins’s decision to support Kavanaugh was swift. “He gave one of the bitterest, most partisan testimonies ever presented by a nominee”, said Schumer of NY.

It has also caused high emotion between supporters for both people, with some being arrested on Friday when lawmakers backed President Trump’s nominee by 51 to 49. He flashed two thumbs up when the final vote was declared and aides on board applauded. “And that is what Judge Kavanaugh represents”.

“Vote them out!” the protesters chanted, along with: “Hey, hey, ho, ho, Kavanaugh has got to go”.

At senators behest, the FBI investigated and the agency’s latest report Thursday did not corroborate “any of the sexual misconduct allegations against” Kavanaugh, said Majority Leader and Kentucky Republican Mitch McConnell, according to the Associated Press. West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin broke ranks to vote “yes” Saturday and Maine Republican Susan Collins also voted “yes”, affirming her announcement in a 45-minute speech on the Senator floor Friday.

His confirmation will allow Trump to hit the campaign trail ahead of the elections saying that he has kept his 2016 promise to mold a more conservative American judiciary.

Trump weighed in shortly after the roll call was announced, tweeting, “Very proud of the U.S. Senate for voting “YES” to advance the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh!”. Republicans pointed to missing details in the accounts of accusers, while Democrats largely supported the women, and after Kavanaugh’s emotional testimony in the hearing with Ford, questioned his honesty on other issues, like his personal history with drinking. “And Senator Ernst?” he asked the reporter, referring to women Senators who all voted to support Kavanaugh.

Chuck Schumer, the Democratic Senate minority leader, branded Mr Kavanaugh an “extreme partisan” with an “injudicious demeanour”. She said, however, that she sets a high bar for nominees to win confirmation and talked about the importance of selecting judges who will act at all times in a manner that promotes “public confidence” in the judiciary. “It’s been a seminal event leading into the fall election”.

In a statement, Ms. Kordestani called the outage “an unfortunate side effect of the tremendous surge in participation we’ve seen since Kavanaugh’s nomination”.