On Friday morning, the Senate voted, predictably, to proceed with the final vote on Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation, which will likely take place on Saturday. The 51-49 vote was split mostly along party lines, though two senators who have been undecided on the Kavanaugh hearings, Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, voted against and voted in favor, respectively.
Friday’s vote, known as a cloture vote, initiates the cloture process; this essentially means that a final vote must be held within 30 hours, nixing the ability for Democrats to filibuster or otherwise postpone the vote.
Republicans have rushed this vote from the start, holding an incomplete confirmation hearing that excluded several key witnesses, initiating a sham FBI investigation, smearing the women who accused their candidate, and scheduling Senate votes before the hearings even concluded.
On Saturday, the Senate will vote on whether to send Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. That vote feels predictable, too.