Just about ALL of us think so….
But does the Republican Senate Majority leader actually have 51 that will vote to confirm?
Weeks of tumult and testimony, allegations and anger, pain and postponement over President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, it is still all about four undecided senators. There will be ample time to figure out what this nomination means — for the Senate, for the court, for this moment, for the election, for the country. But on Friday, it’s all about the math: Can Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell get 50 senators to “yes”?
Bottom line: Republicans do not have the votes as of dawn Friday morning, according to people with direct knowledge.
McConnell is heading into the day that could clinch one of, if not the, cornerstone achievements of his career — tilting the court’s makeup firmly to the conservative side — and he doesn’t currently have the votes. He and his top deputies are optimistic, no question. But it’s not there yet…..
Havenough for Kavenough?
Chris Cillizza
@CillizzaCNN
Reminder: Susan Collins was elected to the Senate in 1996. She has voted against a total of 0 Supreme Court nominees over that time.
twitter…
Murkowski voted no on the Kavanaugh cloture.
Manchin voted yes. (whether he would have otherwise or not.) Fun times.
Elsewhere, Tennessee Senate candidate Phil Bredesen announces he supports the confirmation of Kavanaugh.
Since it looks like Murkowski is a no on Kavanaugh, and it also looks like Flake is a yes, Manchin must be praying for his friend Susan Collins to vote yes and give him cover (and I think she will), otherwise Manchin gets to be the deciding vote that confirms Kavanaugh.
(If they both vote yes, the vote can be held on Saturday and Daines doesn’t have to leave his daughter’s wedding early, which would be a good thing.)
Thank you Senators Murkowski and Heitkamp for your profiles in courage.
Lisa if you are drummed out of the Trump Repubmican Party you could always become an Independent and caucus with the Dems.
Are you trading Manchin (and theoretically Bredesen) as part of the deal?
Manchin has not yet announced how he will vote. The Democraric Party is not beholden to one crazy man the way the modern GOP is though.
I fully expect Murkowski to be a Twitter target of Mushroom Head in Chief.
Then if history is any precedent she will either announce retirement or need to switch parties.
This keeps changing by the minute. The latest apparently is Murkowski moving to “undecided.”
I think Manchin confirmed he will vote yes. We will see.
Murkowski ought to join in with Flake and Collins and say they will vote yes upon Trump resigning as President.
Kavanaugh gets confirmed and Pence is still there to nominate future conservatives to the Bench. Win/win for everyone. Go big or go home..
Actually, Murkowski,who is a Republican and caucuses with them, was elected by a write in vote.One of those she defeated was the official Republican Party candidate who had defeated her in an earlier primary.
I wonder if she will run in a Republican primary again,and likely face another Right Wing opponent ,or simply run as an Independent next time.Then again, maybe she isn’t planning on running again?
Her most recent election in 2016, came as a Republican, the normal way.
There is a long time between now and when she is next up.
Yeah that’s right.That write in Deal was earlier.
Well, if she votes “no “on the confirmation vote she will certainly face another challenge from the right next time she runs.
However Collins votes I think she is in trouble in 2020
. Vote No and face the wrath of a GOP primary. Vote yes and she will have bigger problems in the general.
Collins has NEVER voted against a Supreme job applicant ….
Whoa!?
Nate Silver
@NateSilver538
Nate Silver Retweeted Benjy Sarlin
Not crazy to wonder whether Murkowski might become an independent who caucuses with the Democrats if Dems take back over the Senate at some point.
“Crazy “in my view.
Murkowski and her family have always been Republicans.
What evidence is there she no longer is?
Just this vote?
And I don’t expect her to today.
Yes,she has major problems whichever way she goes.
Murkowski has indicated that she was a victim of sexual misconduct …
She is under HUGE pressure back home to vote ‘NO’
Flake appears to be a solid ‘Yes’….
Collins should be NO surprise….
She ALWAYS bends…
The report is Mnachin does NOT want to be the guy as a Democrat to get BK in….
This IS STRAIGHT Political….
VERY NARROW…..
I’m sure that everyone else here has already done the maths, but should Joe Manchin & LIsa Murkowski vote No while Jeff Flake & Susan Collins vote Yes (50 R to 47 D + 2 I + 1 R = 50), then the ever-unpredictable and volatile Mike Pence gets to cast the deciding vote.
¶ I turned on CNN at 10:30 a.m. to catch the cloture vote, but I could only stand about 5 minutes (if that) of Mitch McConnell’s smarmy hypocritical bomb-throwing.
Pence will be hanging out in DC this weekend…..
Some Republican Senator was mentioned as NOT to be around DC this weekend due to a family marriage ….
I suppose the party will have some rich guy supply a private jet on standby so he can vote and fly out to wherever he needs to be….
The Senator involved is Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT)
Link….
If Ted Kennedy and John McCain can rise up from what would essentially be their death-beds to cast crucial votes, I’m sure that Steve Daines will feel enough party pressure to come back from the event that was to keep him away from Washington tomorrow.
It’s his daughter’s wedding. McConnell will work it out. They can hold the vote open until he gets back if needed. Daines role as father should be more important to him than his role as Senator.
As it stands now, Daines won’t need to be there, as long as Manchin votes yes.
The honorable thing to do would be to work out a compromise with his home state colleague Jon Tester. Neither votes. Daines gets to be in Montana for his daughter’s wedding and Tester spends the night at Sizzler for All You Can Eat.