Kavanaugh Advances Day, 2018
Earlier today, the Senate voted, 51-49, to close debate on Donald Trump’s SCOTUS nominee, well-known sexual assaulter Brett Kavanaugh.
Democrat Joe Manchin voted yes, and Republican Lisa Murkowski voted no. Otherwise, it was a party-line vote, and a victory for Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell.
Of course, if Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Arizona), Sen. Murkowski, and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) vote no on the nomination, and if Sen. Manchin and Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-Indiana), vote no, then Kavanaugh goes down. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-North Dakota) has already courageously announced that she’ll vote no. Sen. Collins will announce how she will vote later today.
Montana is a red state, and so its junior senator, Steve Daines, is a Republican. He has four children, and one of them is a young woman who’s getting married tomorrow, so if McConnell is to succeed in his career-long goal of changing the course of the American judiciary in a very bad way for several generations yet to come, it’s important for Daines to be back at work in Washington tomorrow. He has arranged for a quick quick flight (on Trump Airlines no doubt) back to DC so he can do McConnell’s bidding.
Associate solitary reporter Melissa Smith, who covers Congress for us, and her colleague, associate solitary reporter Keith Coleman, have been watching the Senate with great intensity during the Kavanaugh debacle.
So they talked with Daines moments ago. Speaking on deep background, Daines told them, “You know what? I like being home in Montana, and I love my daughter, and I love to party, so I am just gonna stay here and party and not oblige McConnell and Trump.”
ASRs Smith and Coleman have also confirmed with Sen. Flake, Sen. Manchin, Sen. Collins, and Sen. Donnelly, that they will all vote no on Kavanaugh.