Republican leaders in the Senate have agreed to allow investigators up to a week to do another background investigation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh before Senators move forward with a full Senate vote, according to Majority Whip Sen. John Cornyn (R) of Texas.
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 11-10 Friday to move closer to a full Senate vote on Judge Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Members voted Friday afternoon after postponing an earlier vote.
But, multiple Senators expressed interest in delaying a full Senate vote until after the FBI can conduct a brief investigation of Kavanaugh. Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake (R), who had earlier offered his support for Kavanaugh, said he now believes it would be proper to delay the full Senate vote at least one week to allow for the FBI to conduct a limited investigation of Kavanaugh.
Committee Democrats and Republicans had appeared to agree in theory to ask for a short FBI investigation, but they held no formal vote on that half of the issue Friday -- leaving with only a handshake agreement. Sen. Cornyn's statement indicates that agreement has been formalized, at least behind closed doors.
Friday's committee decision to move closer to a full Senate vote was the next step in the confirmation process for President Donald Trump's second Supreme Court nominee.
Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch was sworn in to succeed the late Antonin Scalia in April 2017. If confirmed by the full Senate, Kavanaugh would fill the vacancy left by Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy who announced his retirement in June.
Friday's Senate Judiciary Committee vote came after a tense day of testimony Thursday. Dr. Christine Blasey Ford said Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her at a party when they were teenagers. Kavanaugh categorically denied that claim.
Ford is one of three accusers to be publicly identified. Deborah Ramirez claims Kavanaugh exposed himself to her at a college party in the 80s. Julie Swetnick alleges Kavanaugh and classmate Mark Judge were among a group of boys who would spike drinks in the 80s in an effort to take advantage of girls. Swetnick also claims Kavanaugh and Judge were present at a party during which she was gang-raped, although she does not specifically accuse them of sexually assaulting her. There have been two other accusations of sexual misconduct against Kavanaugh: an anonymous allegation and a now-recanted claim.
Despite the allegations, heated testimony and media circus, Friday's vote was a formality.
The full Senate will now debate the merits of having him on the nation's highest court.
Senators used to be allowed to stall a confirmation indefinitely through filibusters. But, in 2013, the Democrats made a controversial change to the rules and instituted "the nuclear option," which reduced the threshold to stop a filibuster from 60 votes to 51 votes. While the purpose was to make it easier to approve then-President Barack Obama's nominees, it is now working in favor of the Republicans as they consider President Trump's picks. The GOP "went nuclear" in 2017 to stop Democrats from stalling Gorsuch's nomination. And, Republicans could do the same with Kavanaugh.
Once the debate ends, the full Senate will vote whether to elevate Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.
The full Senate vote requires a simple majority of 51 Senators. If there is a tie, Vice President Mike Pence will cast the deciding vote.
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