September 28, 2018 01:42 PM UTC

BREAKING: Kavanaugh Confirmation Vote Delayed

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• by: Colorado Pols

UPDATE (2:05 pm): Senate Republicans have agreed to a one-week delay on a vote to confirm Kavanaugh so that an investigation can be conducted into sexual assault allegations.

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UPDATE (12:39 pm): We appear to have us a stalemate:

Lisa Murkowski tells @NBCNews she supports @JeffFlake 1 week delay so Mitch McConnell does not have the votes without reopening FBI background check on #judgekavanaugh

— Andrea Mitchell (@mitchellreports) September 28, 2018

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UPDATE (12:30 pm): Today the Senate Judiciary Committee voted along party lines (11-10) to advance the SCOTUS nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the floor of the Senate. But there’s a YUGE “however” in this story, as the Washington Post explains:

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted along partisan lines Friday to advance the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh after securing a key vote from Sen. Jeff Flake, who asked for a delay of up to a week before the full Senate votes.

Flake (R-Ariz.) said the delay would allow a limited FBI investigation of allegations of sexual assault while Kavanaugh was a teenager…

…Flake’s request cast doubt on whether the full Senate would take a procedural vote on Saturday, as previously announced, as other wavering lawmakers seem likely to join Flake.

CNN is reporting that Flake will vote NO on Kavanaugh’s confirmation if an FBI investigation into sexual assault claims is not authorized, though Flake has not directly said this himself. Flake has apparently made this clear, and as you can read from the 2:04 pm update, his maneuver worked.

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Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake took another break from pretending to oppose President Trump when he announced today that he will vote YES for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh despite, well, everything.

As the Washington Post reports, a full floor vote on Kavanaugh’s SCOTUS confirmation could come as soon as Tuesday. The Post lists Democratic Senators Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Joe Manchin of West Virginia as unknown entities, along with Republican Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.

Last night reports surfaced that Manchin, Collins, Murkowski and Indiana Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly would likely end up on the same side of the ledger eventually:

This doesn’t mean they are voting for or against…I legitimately don’t know. But these four aren’t expected to end up in opposite places

— Burgess Everett (@burgessev) September 28, 2018

If this report is true, then Kavanaugh could be in trouble; Donnelly announced today that he is a NO vote on confirmation.