“A GOOD DAY FOR AMERICA”
by Sharon Rondeau
(Oct. 6, 2018) — Shortly after 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, U.S. Court of appeals for the DC Circuit Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh was confirmed by the Senate to be the nation’s 114th justice to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court.
With Vice President Mike Pence presiding, the vote of the chamber’s 100 members began at 3:50 p.m. EDT and was made official at approximately 4:05 p.m.
Both before and during the vote-taking, individuals admitted to the gallery were heard protesting loudly, to which Pence asked the sergeant-at-arms to “restore order.” Notably, protesters tended to be heard after a Republican’s name was called as well as when the name of Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) was called.
Manchin was the only Democrat to vote “yea” with 49 Republicans on Kavanaugh’s nomination Saturday after allegations of sexual misconduct roiled the confirmation process beginning days before the Senate Judiciary Committee expected to vote in mid-September.
Kavanaugh denied the allegation and those of two more women who followed Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who pledged that there would be a vote before the week were over, tweeted a photo of himself with Kavanaugh and Pence (shown above).
Kavanaugh will be sworn in on Monday or Tuesday, according to Fox News. In a tweet before 4:30 p.m., President Trump, en route to a rally in Kansas, tweeted his congratulations to Kavanaugh and said he will be signing an Appointment of Commission this evening.
Kavanaugh is Trump’s second Supreme Court appointee following that of Neil Gorsuch, who replaced the late Associate Justice Antonin Scalia last year. Scalia died unexpectedly in February 2016. With a Republican majority in the Senate, McConnell refused to hold confirmation hearings on Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland.
Garland is chief justice of the DC Court of Appeals, where Kavanaugh has served for a dozen years. Kavanaugh and Garland reportedly have agreed on a majority of opinions on which both have worked.
In public remarks at 4:31 p.m., McConnell said that “It’s a good day for America,” saying that he “couldn’t be more proud of the Republican conference.” At the same time, he thanked Manchin for his “yes” vote.
Reporters’ questions were uncharacteristically respectful.
At 4:41 p.m., Fox’s Shannon Bream announced that Kavanaugh will be sworn in this evening by U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and retired Associated Justice Anthony Kennedy, for whom Kavanaugh once clerked.
In a congratulatory tweet, Trump had indicated that Kavanaugh would apparently be sworn in Saturday evening:
P.S. Shortly after Obama was elected I had learned from several sources that he was a fraud/usurper. At this same time I had gone to several Tea Party events as a registered Democrat for several months and then joined a group. I didn’t change parties until a few years ago. For me, the Democrats have gone “too radical left” for me. And they are very mean…and any means go…
At all the events and rallies I went to I did not see Republicans or Tea Party members act like those who recently stormed the halls of Congress. And another thing is that our groups are “self-funded” and we are orderly. At meetings we open with prayer and the pledge to our flag. For the most part we follow “Roberts’ Rules” and look to the Constitution as a guide and lean on our faith from our Founding fathers…
The loud and disrupting protesters should have had been rejected and arrested. How many of
these protesters were “rent-o-mobs” or just outrageous “sour-losers”? Their behavior was rude
and childish. I haven’t seen conservatives behave in such manner…
After “smoke-and-mirrors”, “black-magic”, “voodoo”, and “rent-o-mobs”, they couldn’t keep a
great man down.
Godspeed to Kavanaugh for he truly is “tops-in-his-class”. His whole life is evidence of that.