Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) has been one of several moderates in the Senate whose intention when it comes to voting on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh‘s confirmation has been a mystery. Throughout the day, senators have been speaking on the Senate floor about Kavanaugh, but at approximately 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Collins is expected to announce how she will vote.
When President Donald Trump first nominated the conservative Kavanaugh, Collins and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) indicated that they were far from automatic when it came to supporting Kavanaugh. A main reason for this was concern over whether Kavanaugh would overturn Roe v. Wade. After speaking with Kavanaugh, both Collins and Murkowski reportedly said they felt better about him, making it seem that Kavanaugh’s confirmation was as good as guaranteed.
Then the sexual assault allegations hit, and a new storm of controversy swirled around the nominee. After Dr. Christine Blasey Ford testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee and discussed how Kavanaugh allegedly tried to sexually assault her when they were in high school, several Republicans acknowledged how credible Ford appeared. Sen. Jeff Flake appeared to join the ranks of the undecided, agreeing to vote in favor of Kavanaugh’s nomination moving out of the Committee and to the full Senate, but also calling for an FBI investigation. After the investigation concluded, Flake said he didn’t see anything new to corroborate claims made by Ford and Deborah Ramirez, seeming to hint that he would vote to confirm Kavanaugh.
Friday morning, Flake and Collins both voted to invoke cloture, ending debate on Kavanaugh’s nomination. Murkowski voted against cloture. As for the final confirmation vote, which is set to take place on Saturday, Murkowski already said she will vote no, and Flake said he plans on voting yes, barring any new developments.
[Image via Al Drago-Pool/Getty Images]
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