Getty What time is the Kavanaugh vote?
If you turned on cable news this morning, you might be confused what time the Brett Kavanaugh vote is supposed to take place before the full U.S. Senate today (Saturday, October 6, 2018).
The vote happened around 3:30 p.m. EST. Kavanaugh was confirmed with a vote of 50-48-1.
That’s because, as of the morning of Saturday, October 6, various Senators were still taking turns speaking about Kavanaugh on the Senate floor. For example, Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat up for re-election in her home state, made a speech on the Senate floor around just after 10 a.m. EST. Many others were scheduled to follow.
That means that the time the actual vote will start is an estimate. When will the vote take place?
The Start Time Is Estimated Due to Floor Speeches
As of 10:30 a.m. EST, it was estimated that the vote is likely to start at about 3:30 p.m. EST. Some sites are predicting a vote time of between 3:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m., however. Thus, there is not a firm start time that is carved in rock, but you should look for the vote to start around that time. The Senate is allowing 30 hours of debate time. That would, technically, put the vote at 4:52 p.m. EST, but it’s expected the Senate might move up the vote somewhat.
Chad Pergram covers Congress for Fox News. On the morning of October 6, he wrote on Twitter, “Kavanaugh confirmation vote now slated for between 3:30 & 4 pm et. If the Senate burned all 30 hours of ‘post-cloture’ time, afforded under Senate rules, the confirmation vote would start at 4:52 pm et. But we now anticipate that coming earlier.”
On the Kavanaugh nomination, the majority/minority can also reach a “unanimous consent agreement” to start the vote at 3:30 pm et – so long as no senator objects – rather than at 4:52 pm et. Also, opponents of an issue may agree to yield back unexpended time in the 30 hr window.
A Maine television reporter who is most interested in Senator Susan Collins’ vote reported the same.
President Donald Trump tweeted that the vote was expected between 3 and 5 p.m. EST.
You can watch a live stream of what’s happening on the Senate floor here:
Here is the live stream from the U.S. Senate floor from its own website. You can see archived videos from other hearings as well.
Brett Kavanaugh Is Expected to Be Confirmed
GettyBrett Kavanaugh
Of course, the real drama in the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh occurred on Friday afternoon, when various undecided Senators announced how they intend to vote.
Essentially, when it came down to it, Kavanaugh needed at least two of these four Senators to be confirmed (although only 2 of the 4 would have left it to Vice President Mike Pence to break the tie): Republicans Jeff Flake, Susan Collins, and Lisa Murkowski, and Democrat Joe Manchin.
First, Flake revealed he was intending to vote for Kavanaugh unless something major changed. Then, Susan Collins gave a lengthy speech on the Senate floor, revealing that she, too, was going to vote for Kavanaugh. Her basic point was that the sexual assault accusations against him are uncorroborated. A few minutes after Collins’s revelation, Democrat Joe Manchin announced that he would be the only Democrat to vote yes on Kavanaugh.
Manchin is up for re-election in November in West Virginia, which is a state that President Donald Trump won by more than 40 points. Finally, Republican Lisa Murkowski took the floor and said she will oppose Kavanaugh’s nomination, although she will technically vote present (but be recorded as no) to essentially cancel out the absence of a Republican senator who wants to be able to attend his daughter’s wedding (Steve Daines).
That all should – if it happens as expected – give Kavanaugh the votes he needs to ascend to a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court. Throughout the morning before the vote, however, protests continued.