After voting “Yes” to advance Kavanaugh’s nomination in the cloture on Friday, Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) confirmed he will indeed vote “Yes” on Saturday “unless something big changes” in the next 24 hours.
Speaking with reporters at the U.S. Capitol, Flake said he could not “see what would” change his vote between now and Saturday at the moment. He also conceded that the GOP did their best to make Kavanaugh’s confirmation a fair process amid accusations of sexual assault from 36 years ago.
“Of course. Of course. This is a difficult decision for everybody. It really is,” Flake said. “And so, anyway, we did our best. But anyway, I’m glad we had a better process. We needed a better process.”
Last week, as the Senate Judiciary Committee came to a close, the Arizona senator initially announced he would vote “Yes” on Kavanaugh only to backtrack moments later by calling for a week-long FBI investigation into the allegations brought forth by Christine Blasey Ford. This past Thursday, Flake signaled he was satisfied with the FBI investigation, referring to it as “thorough.”
With Sen. Murkowski (R-AK) voting “No,” all eyes now turn toward Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV). Though both voted “Yes” on Kavanaugh in the cloture, they have yet to announce their final vote on Saturday. Rumors on Capitol Hill are they will vote “Yes.”