Getty Judge Brett Kavanaugh.
Mitch McConnell, the Senate Majority Leader, said Wednesday night that he had filed cloture on Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court. McConnell said the senate will likely hold a cloture vote on Kavanaugh’s nomination on Friday, which could mean a vote to confirm him as Supreme Court justice as early as Saturday evening.
The Senate majority leader wrote, “I just filed cloture on Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court. There will be plenty of time for Members to review and be briefed on this supplemental material before a Friday cloture vote.”
I just filed cloture on Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court. There will be plenty of time for Members to review and be briefed on this supplemental material before a Friday cloture vote.
Earlier on Wednesday, McConnell said that senators would receive the FBI report on Kavanaugh by Wednesday night.
Cloture Is a Procedural Move Which Restricts Debate Before a Vote
Cloture is a complex process. McConnell will first file cloture, and then must seek the signatures of 16 senators. After filing cloture, there is a cloture vote which — according to Senate rules — can be held no sooner than Friday.
The Friday vote, if it passes, would limit debate on the Kavanaugh nomination to just 30 hours. That means that, if all goes smoothly and the Republicans win Friday’s cloture vote, the Senate could vote on Kavanaugh as early as Saturday evening.
Democrats Says They Still Haven’t Seen the FBI Report on Kavanaugh
Just after McConnell flied cloture, Amy Klobuchar, the Democratic Senator from Minnesota, complained that she and her colleagues still haven’t seen the FBI’s report on the allegations against Kavanaugh.
She tweeted, “Mitch McConnell just filed cloture (which starts the clock on the confirmation vote) and we haven’t (as of now) even seen the FBI report yet.”
McConnell said, in a separate tweet, that there would be “plenty of time” for senators to “review and be briefed on this supplemental material” before a Friday cloture vote.
I just filed cloture on Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court. There will be plenty of time for Members to review and be briefed on this supplemental material before a Friday cloture vote.
McConnell probably was referring to the FBI report when he talked about a briefing on the “supplemental material.” It was not immediately clear when the report would be distributed to senators, and when the briefings on the “supplemental material” would take place.
McConnell Says Democrats Will ‘Use Any Imaginable Excuse’ to Delay the Kavanaugh Confirmation Vote
This has been the most outrageous search and destroy mission to try and take down a fine man’s reputation.
Earlier Wednesday, McConnell spoke out against his Democratic colleagues in the Senate, accusing them of doing everything in their power to delay the Kavanaugh nomination. McConnell said the Democrats were carrying out a “search and destroy mission” to, in his words, “try and take down a fine man’s reputation.”
McConnell tweeted, “This body and this nation have spent months watching my friends across the aisle grasp at every imaginable excuse to delay this process and damage this nominee. If they had their way, the goalposts on Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination would be in another time zone by now.”
The Senate majority leader also tweeted, “Does anyone really think that the same people who called Judge Kavanaugh “evil” long before they heard one word of testimony will be satisfied? It’s time to put this embarrassing spectacle behind us, and vote on this impressive, stunningly qualified Supreme Court nominee.”
READ NEXT: Monica McLean: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know