The Senate Judiciary Committee will place the highly anticipated Brett Kavanaugh vote today. Coverage is slated to begin around 9:30 a.m. ET, and the final vote is set for 1:30 p.m. In case you missed Thursday’s hearing, you can read Tom Foreman’s summary on Metro.
To sum it up here, we saw an emotional testimony from both parties. Dr. Christine Blasey Ford gave calculated, compelling accounts of her alleged sexual assault. She said that she was 100 percent sure Kavanaugh was her assaulter back in 1982, when they were both teenagers.
The Supreme Court nominee came out visibly upset and, at times, enraged. He categorically denied, as he’s done to date, any and all allegations against him (three women have publicly released accusations and more have come forward anonymously). In his opening statement, Kavanaugh choked up when recalling how these claims have affected his family — especially his 10-year-old daughter. The man called the allegations a “sham” and a ploy from Democrats. (He also talked about beer. A lot.)
Prosecutor Rachel Mitchell, a specialist in sex crimes, questioned Ford on behalf of the 11 Committee Republicans, while Democratic members proceeded for five minutes apiece. When it came time for Kavanaugh’s testimony, Republicans took back the microphone.
Given that Republicans are the majority and all 10 Democrats have declared their intent on voting against Kavanaugh, only two people have to vote “no” to halt the nomination. It seems as though Committee member representing Arizona, Sen. Jeff Flake, is a key Republican vote that could sway the decision.
“I would just urge my colleagues to recognize that, in the end, we are 21 very imperfect senators trying to do our best to provide advice and consent,” he said yesterday. “And in the end, there is likely going to be as much doubt as certainty going out of this room today.”
If Kavanaugh goes through, the full Senate will reportedly start proceedings over the weekend, with a scheduled vote likely for early next week.
How to watch the Brett Kavanaugh vote
The final Brett Kavanaugh vote will take place at 1:30 p.m. ET today. You can stream coverage beginning at 9:30 a.m. ET.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein shared a link to one of these streams on Twitter.
A live stream is also set up on USA TODAY‘s website and CNBC’s YouTube channel. TIME’s YouTube channel has a live stream as well.
Watch VICE News’ stream below:
WATCH LIVE: The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to vote on Supreme Court nominee Kavanaugh https://t.co/pUVg1eJqhI
— VICE News (@vicenews) September 28, 2018
Like yesterday’s hearing, major networks will cover the vote on television (CNN, FOX, etc.).
As CNN’s Chris Cuomo pointed out last night, the hearing wasn’t so much about finding Kavanaugh guilty — it wasn’t a criminal trial — it was more so about deciding whether or not his character constitutes a person worthy of sitting on the highest court in America.
