WASHINGTON — The Senate confirmed Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court on Saturday, ending a contentious confirmation process.
The vote was 50-48. Vice President Mike Pence, presiding over the chamber, announced the vote at 4 p.m. ET.
Just after that, “This is a stain on American history,” as authorities raced to escort her away.
The disruptions from protesters in the Senate chamber started just as the roll call started. Capitol Police dragged some of them away. One woman screamed “I am a patriot” as she was carried out of the chamber. A spokeswoman for the Capitol Police said that 13 people were arrested for disrupting the chamber during and after the roll call vote.
Senators sat throughout the roll call, most silent, some Democrats visibly somber, a contrast to typical votes as colleagues typically mill about and chat with each other. Republicans began to congratulate each other as they waited for the final senator, Ben Cardin, Democrat from Maryland, arrive to cast his ballot.
The confirmation follows weeks of discord over Kavanaugh’s nomination after Christine Blasey Ford’s accusations of sexual assault against Kavanaugh were made public.
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Blasey Ford and Kavanaugh testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee about the allegations on Sept. 27. After the testimony, the White House asked the FBI to launch an investigation into Ford’s allegations, which was completed in under a week. Democrats have said they feel the investigation wasn’t thorough enough and was designed not to find corroboration for Ford’s accusations.
Ford’s attorneys were in the Senate gallery for the vote.
Only a few senators’ votes were in contention, including Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), who announced Friday that he would be voting yes unless something substantial changed. Susan Collins (R-Maine) was also a holdout, but eventually announced she would be voting yes as well, saying that Kavanaugh told her he believes that Roe v. Wade — a case particularly feared to be overturned if another conservative judge was confirmed — is “settled law.” Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) voted present because of the absence of a colleague, Steve Danies of Montana, who was at his daughter’s wedding, but said she would have voted no. That did not change the outcome of the vote.
Afterward, Murkowski, speaking to reporters, called for prayers and healing after the contentious process. She said that during the outbursts in the Senate chamber, she was “closing my eyes and praying. Praying for them. Praying for us. I’m praying for the country. We need prayers. We need healing. We just do.”
She later hugged a Capitol Hill police officer and thanked him and others for their work in what has been a two-week period of protests on the Capitol grounds.
Kavanaugh is the fifth solidly conservative judge on the Supreme Court. He fills a vacancy following the retirement of Anthony Kennedy, who has been a key swing vote on numerous decisions in recent years.
Outside, demonstrators staged protests in front of the Supreme Court. Capitol Police said that 150 were arrested as they crossed fencing surrounding the main Capitol building and sat in on the Rotunda steps on the east side of the Capitol.
A total of 164 people were arrested in Capitol protests on Saturday, and all were charged with crowding, obstructing or incommoding, Capitol police said.
President Trump sent a tweet after the vote, indicating that Kavanaugh will be sworn in later on Saturday.
Speaking to reporters after the vote, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that the politics of the divisive confirmation battle would play in Republican’s favor.
“It certainly had a good impact for us. Our base is fired up. We finally discovered the one thing that would fire up the Republican base and we didn’t think of it, and the other side did it,” he said, nearly smiling. “The tactics that have been deployed by the Judiciary Committee, the Democratic senators and by the virtual mob that has assaulted all of us in the course of this process has turned our base on fire.”
McConnell also declined to say whether he would hold off on a Supreme Court confirmation should there be another vacancy during 2020, a presidential election year. After President Barack Obama nominated Merrick Garland to succeed Antonin Scalia in 2016, McConnell refused to even hold a hearing on the choice, arguing that it was too close to the election.
“We’ll see what it looks like in 2020,” he said.
McConnell was asked how the Senate will heal after going through an extraordinarily divisive process.
“The Senate and the country will get past this. We always do,” he said.
Some entertainment industry groups quickly issued statements warning of his confirmation.
David Goodman, the president of the Writers Guild of America West, said that Kavanaugh’s confirmation is “a terrible day for working Americans and for the entire country.”
“Judge Kavanaugh has demonstrated in cases ranging from worker safety to elections that he will unfailingly rule against workers and unions, denying their established right to bargain collectively,” he said in a statement. “Far from being an ‘umpire’ who favors no party or policy, Judge Kavanaugh showed the nation in his recent Senate testimony that he is vindictive and nakedly partisan.”