Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the US Supreme Court appeared all but assured Friday after two key lawmakers signaled their support, in a major boost for President Donald Trump.
Senate Republican Susan Collins affirmed in a closely-watched floor speech that she will vote for the conservative jurist nominated by Trump, and moments later Democrat Joe Manchin broke ranks to announce his own backing.
Their declarations brought the number of senators publicly supporting the 53-year-old judge — who has faced accusations of sexual assault — to 51 in the 100-member chamber.
A final confirmation vote is expected Saturday afternoon.
Kavanaugh’s nomination was left teetering on the edge after university psychology professor Christine Blasey Ford testified last week that he tried to rape her when they were high school students.
Her harrowing testimony sparked a delay of the vote and a supplemental FBI investigation on the allegations.
But her lawyers say the investigation was insufficient.
“An FBI investigation that did not include interviews of Dr Ford and Judge Kavanaugh is not a meaningful investigation in any sense of the word,” they said in a statement quoted in US media.
Collins, a moderate, pro-choice lawmaker from Maine, said Kavanaugh was entitled to the “presumption of innocence” as the allegations against him lacked corroborating evidence.
While acknowledging that Blasey Ford’s testimony was sincere, painful and compelling, and that the accuser is a sexual assault survivor, Collins added: “I do not believe that these charges can fairly prevent Judge Kavanaugh from serving on the court.”
Immediately after that speech, Manchin announced his support, calling Kavanaugh a “qualified jurist” who “will not allow the partisan nature this process took to follow him onto the court.”
Manchin faces extraordinary political pressure. He is up for re-election in West Virginia, a state Trump won overwhelmingly in 2016.
Earlier, the Senate voted 51-49 to end debate on Kavanaugh’s nomination, setting up a final showdown on Saturday.
The outcome had remained in doubt, however, after one Republican, Lisa Murkowski, defied her party and voted against moving ahead.
Trump nevertheless cheered the result of the cloture vote.
“Very proud of the US Senate for voting ‘YES’ to advance the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh!” the president tweeted.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders thanked Collins for “standing by your convictions and doing the right thing,” while former president George HW Bush saluted her “political courage and class.”