US Senate confirms Judge Kavanaugh for Supreme Court
News & Trends •
it reflects a high water mark of the trump presidency republican control of the white house the senate the house of representatives and the judiciarys top court1 the u.s. senate on saturday voted 50-48 to narrowly confirm judge brett kavanaugh to the u.s. supreme court ending a bitterly divisive fight over the controversial nominee1 even as the vote was being cast more than 1000 protesters rallied in washington against the judge with questions raised over his candour partisan rhetoric and lifestyle as a young man1 the month long battle over the nomination has roiled american passions the vote was disrupted on several occasions by angry protests in the gallery but handed trump one of the biggest victories of his presidency1 it drew the line under a bruising nomination process defined by harrowing testimony from a woman who says kavanaugh tried to rape her when they were teenagers and by his fiery rebuttal1 the two-vote margin of victory made it the closest confirmation vote since 1881 when stanley matthews president james garfields pick sealed a 24 to 23 win1 the confirmation means trump has succeeded in having his two picks seated on the court tilting it decidedly to the right in a major coup for the republican leader less than halfway through his term1 it was the closest such vote in a century according to afp. and it came amid controversy over sexual abuse allegations against him.1 but the confirmation hearing inflamed passions as never before1 just hours before the vote scores of protesters broke through barricades and staged a raucous sit-in protest on the us capitol steps just feet away from the imposing doors to the rotunda1 as protesters chanted shame and november is coming police took several dozen protesters down the steps and put them in plastic flex-cuffs1 kavanaughs confirmation process has laid bare the partisan gridlock on capitol hill and the political polarization of america just a month before midterm elections1 his promotion to the supreme court also stands as a demoralizing defeat for democrats who had battled hard to block the 53-year-old judge at all costs1 but senator ed markey insisted ahead of the confirmation that it would only galvanize democrats to deliver a devastating blow to republicans at the ballot box1