Judiciary Committee votes on whether to advance Kavanaugh confirmation – live updates

FAN Editor

Last Updated Sep 28, 2018 10:20 AM EDT

The Senate Judiciary Committee is voting Friday on advancing the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the full Senate a day after Kavanaugh and the woman who has accused him of sexual assault, Christine Blasey Ford, each delivered emotional testimony on Capitol Hill Thursday. Ford said she was “100 percent sure” Kavanaugh assaulted her, and Kavanaugh said he was “100 percent sure” he is innocent. 

Protesters are being kept down the hall and around the corner from the hearing room, but they can be heard chanting, “November is Coming!” and blowing whistles. Some have been arrested by Capitol police.

Before the vote, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, motioned that Kavanaugh’s friend, Mark Judge, should be subpoenaed as a witness to appear before the committee. Judge was alleged by Ford to have been in the room during her assault. Blumenthal acknowledged that Judge had sent a “cursory six-sentence” letter with a statement denying any recollection of the incident. The motion was defeated on a party-line vote.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, moved to hold the vote on Kavanaugh at 1:30 p.m., a motion which passed the committee on a party-line vote 11-8. Democratic Sens. Cory Booker and Kamala Harris, both visibly angry, declined to vote in protest. Several Democrats walked out of the committee room in protest — Booker and Harris, as well as Sens. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, and Mazie Hirono of Hawaii. They talked to reporters outside the hearing room and accused the majority of ramming through Kavanaugh’s nomination, and they continued to insist that the FBI investigate the allegations against Kavanaugh. 

It’s not clear yet, CBS News’ Ed O’Keefe notes, whether the senators will be back in their seats at 1:30 p.m. for the committee’s vote on Kavanaugh.

Inside the hearing room, senators also continued to talk about the allegations against Kavanaugh, including that of Deborah Ramirez, a client of lawyer Michael Avenatti. Grassley said that his committee has asked other accusers for evidence of their claims but has not received any.

Most Republicans on the committee are standing by Kavanaugh and want to proceed with his confirmation, while Democrats want the process slowed and are calling for an FBI investigation into the allegations against Kavanaugh. 

The 21 senators on the committee — 11 Republicans and 10 Democrats — are likely to vote along party lines to advance him. Sen. Jeff Flake, who was among a handful of senators who have not yet said how they’ll vote, announced in a statement Friday just before the committee vote that he would support Kavanaugh’s confirmation. His support likely ensures that Kavanaugh’s nomination will pass out of the committee with a one-vote majority. 

The committee is also considering the nominations of eight other judges in its meeting Friday. 

With a 51-49 split in the GOP-controlled Senate, the margin is slim. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is planning the first procedural votes on Kavanaugh’s nomination to take place as early as Saturday morning, with the final vote to take place on Tuesday. If all Democrats vote against confirming him, Republicans can only afford to lose a single vote. 

The two Republicans to watch in the final vote are Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins, who have not said whether they’ll support Kavanaugh.

And there are also three Democrats who voted to confirm President Trump’s first Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch, and none of them has said whether they’ll support Kavanaugh: Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Joe Donnelly of Indiana, and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota.

Ed O’Keefe, Kathryn Watson, Nicole Sganga, Bo Erickson and Rebecca Kaplan contributed to this report.

© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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