Three moderate Senate Republicans huddled Thursday with a Democrat to discuss the fate of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, suggesting they could vote together.
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., met briefly with Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Jeff Flake of Arizona, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.
“No decision’s been made,” Manchin said after the meeting ended. “There are some things everyone is trying to … get an answer to a few things and we’ll go from there.”
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The meeting lasted about 20 minutes.
It came after a daylong Senate Judiciary Committee hearing that let Kavanaugh and the woman accusing him of sexual assault, Christine Blasey Ford, talk about her accusation. Ford said in emotional testimony that Kavanaugh attempted to sexually assault her in high school, after which Kavanaugh delivered his own emotional testimony to deny the claim and engage in a few fiery exchanges with Democrats on the panel.
The hearing did not seem to immediately sway the votes of the undecided Republicans or Manchin. “We’ve talked and we are still talking. There is no decision made on anything, I can assure you of that.”
While at least two of the three Republican undecideds are needed to confirm Kavanaugh, Manchin’s vote isn’t needed unless Republicans come up short.
Manchin and two other red-state Democrats voted for Trump’s last high court pick, Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch.
Manchin would not tell reporters whether the group planned to vote as a group.
“We all trust each other, we are friends, which is so hard to find around here,” Manchin said.
Manchin did not indicate what information about Kavanaugh the group is seeking but said they were “trying to close the loop” on some concerns.
The Republicans left the meeting with Manchin to attend a GOP-wide closed-door session nearby.
In that meeting, Collins again raised concerns about Kavanaugh, said Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La.
“Susan brought up some stuff,” Cassidy said.
