Sen. Jeff Flake expected to confirm Kavanaugh after initial Senate vote

PHOENIX — U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) announced Friday that he planned to vote yes on Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court “unless something big changes.”

But Flake added that he doesn’t expect anything to change. He was one of a handful of senators who hadn’t said how he would vote on Kavanaugh.

He said it was a hard decision and “a difficult decision for everybody.”

Flake, Republican Susan Collins of Maine and Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia — all one-time swing votes — announced Friday they would vote for Kavanaugh, all but ensuring his confirmation.

Flake also told reporters that he believed Kavanaugh would get confirmed during a final vote, which was expected to come on Saturday. Arizona’s other senator, Sen. Jon Kyl, was also expected to vote yes for Kavanaugh.

The Arizona senator’s comments came shortly after the Senate narrowly voted to advance Kavanaugh’s nomination in an initial vote.

Flake, once a key undecided Republican senator, joined 50 other senators — mainly Republicans and Manchin — who voted to end a debate and move toward a final vote.

Forty-nine senators — mainly Democrats and Republican Lisa Murkowski — voted against the move to advance President Donald Trump’s nominee.

In a tweet, President Donald Trump said he was ” very proud” of the Senate for the vote.

Very proud of the U.S. Senate for voting “YES” to advance the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 5, 2018

A final vote on Kavanaugh’s nomination could occur over the weekend.

Flake initially announced he would vote for Kavanaugh, but requested a week-long delay to allow the FBI to investigate allegations of sexual misconduct made against the 53-year-old judge.

The Arizona senator told CNN on Thursday that the report showed “no additional corroborating information” into the claims made by Christine Blasey Ford.

But there’s no guarantee that the senators who supported moving forward will back Kavanaugh on the final vote.

Ford testified in front of a Senate committee that, one night in the summer of 1982, a drunken Kavanaugh forced her down on a bed, “groped me and tried to take off my clothes,” then clamped his hand over her mouth when she tried to scream before she was able to escape.

Kavanaugh had denied the allegation.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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