Brett Kavanaugh Confirmed To Supreme Court By 50-48 Vote

Brett Kavanaugh has been confirmed to the Supreme Court after days of voting. The man accused of sexual assault by multiple women will now sit on the SCOTUS bench as a justice for a lifetime appointment.

Judge Brett Kavanaugh, 53, has officially become a justice of the Supreme Court as of Oct 6. claiming a 50-48 victory. Kavanaugh’s confirmation vote comes after Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ) asked the Senate Judiciary Committee to delay the full Senate vote until the FBI completed a background investigation into the judge after Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and others accused him of sexual misconduct. The investigation was granted by Republican leaders, and on Oct. 5, Senators voted 51-49 to end the debate and go forward with the confirmation vote.

Four senators were considered “swing” votes: Susan Collins of Maine, Jeff Flake of Arizona, and Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski, as well as Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia. Murkowski was the only one to break ranks with her party.

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 11-10 on party lines on September 28 to move Kavanaugh’s nomination to the full Senate. The vote came the day after a fascinating and horrifying testimonies by both Kavanaugh and Dr. Ford before the committee. Dr. Ford claims that Kavanaugh allegedly sexually assaulted her in 1982, when they were both in high school. Ford alleges that Kavanaugh pinned her down at a party and held a hand over her mouth to muffle her screams while he tried to take her clothes off. He didn’t succeed, and she managed to escape. Ford was grilled relentlessly by the committee and a prosecutor, Rachel Mitchell, about the events of that day, as she remained cool and collected. Kavanaugh threw a tantrum, yelling at the committee, crying, and sniffing as he talked about how this was ruining his life. He relied on his calendars from high school as evidence that he never assaulted Ford.

Kavanaugh was also accused of sexual misconduct by Debbie Ramirez, a former Yale classmate, who said that he allegedly exposed himself to her, thrusting his penis in her face. Another woman came forward the day before the September 27 testimony, Julie Swetnick, and alleged that Kavanaugh was present when she was gang raped at a party. Ford had been asking for an FBI inquiry into Kavanaugh since she came forward with her allegations. The Senate Judiciary Committee, however, voted against subpoenaing Kavanaugh’s high school friend Mark Judge, who was named in both Swetnick and Ford’s allegations. That “nay” vote and the fact that the committee voted to move ahead with Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing caused a number of Democratic senators, Cory Booker and Kamala Harris, to walk out in protest.