By a narrow margin, the US Senate ends a bitter partisan fight that had transfixed Americans with claims that Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted women in the 1980s<\/b>
\nThe US Senate on Saturday narrowly confirmed Brett M. Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, capping a tumultuous confirmation process marked by partisan rancour, tearful testimony and allegations of sexual assault and bad faith.
Kavanaugh was confirmed 50-48-1, the narrowest margin in modern history. Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who opposed the nomination, voted present to balance out a fellow Republican who could not attend but wanted to vote \u201cyes\u201d.
Kavanaugh\u2019s confirmation \u2013 once considered certain, only to be upended by multiple allegations of sexual misconduct over the past three weeks \u2013 is a major political victory for US President Donald Trump and his Republican backers, who are on the cusp of cementing a conservative majority on the nation\u2019s highest court.
Both parties bemoaned a broken confirmation process \u2013 albeit for different reasons \u2013 that could have a lasting effect on the Senate and further inflame a nation already polarised by tribal politics amid the cultural reckoning of the #MeToo era.
The loss has demoralised Democrats, with angry protesters on Capitol Hill promising revenge at the ballot box on November 6 and beyond.
Amid tighter-than-usual security, hundreds of protesters against Kavanaugh assembled on the grounds of the Capitol and at the Supreme Court. They chanted, \u201cVote them out! Vote them out!\u201d and carried signs including \u201cI am a survivor, not a troublemaker!\u201d
As protesters chanted \u201cShame!\u201d and \u201cNovember is coming!\u201d police took several dozen protesters down the steps and put them in plastic flex-cuffs.
Protesters in the Senate gallery also interrupted the vote and were removed.
A town house near the Washington residence of Republican Senator Susan Collins flew the flag of her home state Maine upside down to protest her backing of Kavanaugh.
As the day wore on, protesters in front of the Supreme Court pushed past security barriers and went to the east front of the US Capitol where several dozen climbed exterior stairs, only to be removed by police.
Trump scored a clear win in his drive to cement conservative dominance of the High Court, a bitter outcome for Democrats who could not get their own liberal nominee confirmed because of Republican delaying tactics in 2016.
Trump told reporters as he left the White House before the vote for a rally in Topeka, Kansas, that he thinks Brett Kavanaugh is \u201cgoing to be a great Supreme Court justice for many years to come\u201d.
Trump also posted on Twitter after the vote:
\u201cI applaud and congratulate the US Senate for confirming our GREAT NOMINEE, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, to the United States Supreme Court,\u201d Trump wrote. \u201cLater today, I will sign his Commission of Appointment, and he will be officially sworn in. Very exciting!\u201d
In final remarks just before the voting, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said a vote for Kavanaugh was \u201ca vote to end this brief, dark chapter in the Senate\u2019s history and turn the page toward a brighter tomorrow\u201d.
McConnell credited the protests in the Capitol, at lawmakers\u2019 homes, in restaurants and at airports for unifying Republican lawmakers and the party\u2019s voter base. He said the demonstrations had helped bolster support for Kavanaugh, and will energise Republican voters in next month\u2019s election.
\u201cWe\u2019ve been wondering how we can fire up our own people because we know the Democrats are energised going into an off-year election,\u201d McConnell said before the vote on Saturday.
Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York looked ahead to November, appealing to voters beyond the Senate chamber: \u201cChange must come from where change in America always begins: the ballot box.\u201d
With divisive cases on abortion rights, immigration, transgender rights and business regulation headed for the court, Kavanaugh likely would give conservatives the upper hand.
His confirmation would also allow Trump to hit the campaign trail ahead of the November 6 congressional elections bragging that he has kept his 2016 promise to mould a more conservative American judiciary.
Capping a tense day on Friday, Collins of Maine declared on the Senate floor, \u201cI will vote to confirm Judge Kavanaugh.\u201d
She praised his judicial record and argued there was no corroboration of a sexual assault accusation made against him by psychology professor Christine Blasey Ford. Two other women also accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct decades ago. Kavanaugh has denied all the allegations.
Trump said after the vote that he was \u201c100 percent\u201d certain that Ford named the wrong person when she accused Kavanaugh in her testimony.
One of those women, Debbie Ramirez, a classmate of Kavanaugh\u2019s at Yale University in the 1980s, issued a statement on Saturday saying that as she watched the Senate debate, \u201cI feel like I\u2019m right back at Yale where half the room is laughing and looking the other way. Only this time, instead of drunk college kids, it is US senators who are deliberately ignoring his behaviour,\u201d she said.
Moments after Collins pledged to back Kavanaugh, Democratic Senator Joe Manchin, who is in a tough race for re-election in West Virginia where Trump is popular, also declared his support, leaving little doubt of a Republican victory.
Senators then endured a rare all-night session to satisfy the requirement of 30 hours of debate following Friday\u2019s vote.
As the debate entered its final hours, the divisions between Republicans and Democrats festered.
Republican Senator Deb Fischer described Kavanaugh as \u201cone of the most thoughtful, pre-eminent judges in our nation.\u201d
The sexual assault allegations, Fischer said, led the Senate confirmation process into \u201ca shameful spectacle and a disservice to everyone involved,\u201d adding that there was no evidence Kavanaugh was the perpetrator.
Democratic Senator Edward Markey countered, saying Kavanaugh has been a \u201crubber stamp for a far right-wing agenda.\u201d Referring to the judge\u2019s sworn response to Ford\u2019s testimony, Markey said, \u201cWe heard anger. We heard belligerence. We heard evasiveness. We heard disrespect.\u201d
Senate Republicans, except for Lisa Murkowski, stood by Kavanaugh in a move that could resonate, particularly with women voters, in the midterm elections to determine control of the Senate and House of Representatives.
Murkowski voted \u201cpresent,\u201d offsetting the absence of Kavanaugh supporter Steve Daines of Montana, who was attending his daughter\u2019s wedding. That rare procedural manoeuvre left Kavanaugh with the same two-vote margin he\u2019d have had if Murkowski and Daines had both voted.
It was the closest roll call to confirm a justice since 1881, when Stanley Matthews was approved by 24-23, according to Senate records.
Even before the sexual assault charges surfaced, Democrats in the Republican-controlled Senate were fighting hard to stop Kavanaugh, saying his conservative judicial philosophy could result in rolling back abortion rights, gay rights and protections for immigrants.
They also challenged the veracity of some of his Judiciary Committee testimony.<\/p>\n

\n

Similarity rank: 44<\/div>\n

Sentiment rank: -0.7<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n