The Senate Judiciary Committee plans to vote at 1:30pm today (Sept. 28) on whether to send Brett Kavanaugh’s US Supreme Court nomination to the full Senate. Even if Donald Trump’s nominee fails to get a majority of their votes, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell may still call a vote on the Senate floor to take place as early as Tuesday.
Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford—the woman who accuses him of sexual assault in a 1982 incident—delivered powerful, emotionally charged accounts to the committee yesterday. He denies all of the sexual misconduct allegations against him.
You can watch the committee meeting here:
What a Senate judiciary committee vote means
Republicans hold a 11-10 majority on the committee. Even after the dramatic proceedings, few lawmakers seem to have shifted their starkly differing opinions of whether Kavanaugh is fit for a lifetime appointment to the country’s highest court.
What would be next on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh
If the committee votes to proceed, Kavanaugh’s nomination would go to a full vote by the Senate, as soon as next week. Republicans hold a razor-thin 51-49 majority. The nomination will rest with a few potential swing votes—including Republicans Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia.