Senate Republicans have pushed Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination past a procedural hurdle, but a confirmation vote remains delayed for at least a week amid a new FBI investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced the move late Friday after a tumultuous day on Capitol Hill.
The leader says all 51 Republican senators supported the motion to proceed with Kavanaugh’s nomination. But it was approved by voice, without a roll call to put senators on record.
In fact, GOP senators were slowing Kavanaugh’s final confirmation for at least a week. President Donald Trump agreed with their request to launch a “supplemental” FBI investigation into the allegations.
McConnell calls Kavanaugh “most qualified and most impressive” and says, “This is a nomination that deserves to move forward.”
Earlier Friday, President Donald Trump directed the FBI to launch a supplemental investigation into his Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh at the request of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Trump said in a statement that the updated investigation, which comes in response to sexual misconduct allegations, “must be limited in scope” and “completed in less than one week.”
The decision marks a reversal for the administration, which had argued that Kavanaugh had already been vetted.
Kavanaugh has adamantly denied the allegations.
Senate Republican leaders agreed Friday to delay a final vote on Kavanaugh to allow time for an investigation by the FBI at the request of Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake.
Kavanaugh says he’s been interviewed by the FBI during his confirmation process and conducted “background” calls with the Senate. He says he answered questions under oath Thursday “about every topic the Senators and their counsel asked me.”
Kavanaugh says, “I’ve done everything they have requested and will continue to cooperate.”
Several Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee walked out of a hearing on Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court.
