Senate narrowly approves Brett Kavanaugh to Supreme Court, cementing conservative majority - Los Angeles Times

Senate narrowly approves Brett Kavanaugh to Supreme Court, cementing conservative majority - Los Angeles Times

The Senate on Saturday narrowly confirmed Brett M. Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, capping a tumultuous confirmation process marked by partisan rancor, tearful testimony and tense allegations of sexual assault and bad faith.

Kavanaugh was confirmed 50-48-1, the narrowest margin in modern history. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who opposed the nomination, voted present to balance out a fellow Republican who could not attend but wanted to vote “yes.”

Kavanaugh’s confirmation – once considered certain, only to be upended by multiple allegations of sexual misconduct over the last three weeks – will mark a major political victory for President Trump and his Republican backers, who are on the cusp of cementing a conservative majority on the nation’s highest court.

Both parties bemoaned a broken confirmation process – albeit for different reasons – that could have a lasting effect on the Senate and further inflame a nation already polarized by tribal politics amid the cultural reckoning of the #MeToo era.

The loss has demoralized Democrats, with angry protesters on Capitol Hill promising revenge at the ballot box on Nov. 6 and beyond. Many cited not just the alleged sexual assault, but Kavanaugh’s Sept. 27 testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee, when he shouted, wept and angrily interrupted Democratic senators, giving rise to questions about his impartiality and temperament.

But Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) credited the protests in the Capitol, at lawmakers’ homes, in restaurants and at airports for unifying Republican lawmakers and the GOP voter base. He said the demonstrations had helped bolster support toward Kavanaugh, and will energize Republican voters in next month’s election.

“We’ve been wondering how we can fire up our own people because we know the Democrats are energized going into an off-year election,” McConnell told the Los Angeles Times before the vote Saturday.

“Nothing unifies and energizes Republicans like a court fight. So the good news about it from a political point of view is it has allowed us to put what I think is our single biggest accomplishment – that is, the transformation of the court system in the course of this Congress – front and center going into the election a month from now,” he said.