Brett Kavanaugh vote: Trump orders FBI background investigation into Supreme Court nominee after Jeff Flake calls for Senate vote delay
After the committee decision attention will turn to moderate Senate Republicans like Susan Collins and their possible voting intentions in a full chamber vote
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Your support makes all the difference.The Senate Judiciary Committee has approved Donald Trump's nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, in a vote 11-10 on party lines.
However, moderate Republican Senator Jeff Flake called for an FBI investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against the judge before a final Senate vote. Mr Trump later ordered the FBI to conduct that understanding.
Mr Flake's intervention means a final Senate vote on the nomination could be delayed for up to a week so that the FBI investigation can be completed. Mr Kavanuagh denies the allegations from three different women.
“I will vote to advance the nominee to the floor with that understanding,” Mr Flake said.
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Ted Cruz, the senator from Texas is now talking about the "difficult" life of Mark Judge - one of those Dr Ford said was present during her alleged assault - as to why he did not appear in front of the committee.
Mr Judge has denied the allegations, saying he has no recollection of the incident.
Mr Cruz says it would do nobody any good for Mr Judge to be forced to testify in front of the committee and not answer questions.
The dean of Yale Law School is calling for an investigation into the allegations against Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh before his confirmation. Mr Kavanaugh atteneed Yale for both his undergraduate degree and for law school.
Heather Gerken released this statement:
“I join the American Bar Association in calling for an additional investigation into allegations made against Judge Kavanaugh. Proceeding with the confirmation process without further investigation is not in the best interest of the Court or our profession.”
We are still cycling through remarks from committee members - Democrat Cory Booker of New Jersey is up now
Democrat Senator Jon Tester has announced he will vote no on the Kavanaugh confirmation.
Cory Booker says he "cannot stomach" the idea of moving forward with the nomination.
I "cannot sit here" during what will be become known as a "dark moment" in the history of the Senate.
Mr Booker gets up and leaves the hearing.
Earlier, Republican Senator Jeff Flake walked out of the Senate Judiciary Committee meeting, tapping Democratic Senator Chris Coons on the way out. Mr Coons followed him out of the room.
The two men are good friends.
Earlier today, when Mr Coons was informed Flake intended to vote for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, Mr Coons got emotional. He teared up before saying, “We each make choices for our own reason. I’m struggling, sorry.”
Where we stand in the Senate in terms of those Senators who were still undecided over the Kavanaugh confirmation.
R - Sen. Susan Collins - Undecided
R - Sen. Lisa Murkowski - Undecided
D - Sen. Joe Manchin - Undecided
D - Sen. Heidi Heitkamp - Undecided
R - Sen. Jeff Flake - YES
R - Sen. Bob Corker YES
D - Sen. Doug Jones - NO
D - Sen. Bill Nelson - NO
D - Sen. Joe Donnelly - NO
D - Sen. Jon Tester - NO
Ms Collins and Ms Murkowski are moderate Republicans, while Mr Manchin and Ms Heitkamp are Democrats in red states.
Republican Senator John Kennedy had some forceful words for his colleagues, a day after he asked Mr Kavanaugh to “swear to god” that he did not commit the assault against Dr. Ford.
“There were no winners in this room,” he said. “ All I saw were two people, two human beings in pain.”
Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, says Dr Christine Blasey Ford, is a "profile in courage".
He says she will be "in the history books" long after everyone in the committee. Withat that, he leaves the chambers as other democrats have done before him.
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