Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, said Friday he’s “optimistic” that the Senate will soon confirm Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, based on his personal talks with the handful of GOP senators could are the key to the vote.
Speaking on Fox News, Cornyn said Sens. Jeff Flake or Arizona, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska have yet to publicly commit, but said discussions are ongoing with them.
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“They have not publicly committed, but we’ve been engaging in personal texts, conversations, face-to-face visits,” he said. “It’s the norm for how things happen around here. So much of what is done is done person-to-person.”
“I respect their right to make their own announcement,” he added.
He also said he hopes a few Democrats can end up supporting Kavanaugh.
“I’m hopeful that Sen. Donnelly, Sen. Manchin, Sen. Heitkamp, all of whom voted for Neil Gorsuch, will see their way to vote for this nominee,” he said.
If every Democrat votes against Kavanaugh, Republicans can only lose one GOP vote. Every lost GOP vote after that would require a Democratic “yes” vote to confirm him.
“I’m optimistic we’ll have a bipartisan vote,” Cornyn said.
Kavanaugh testified on Thursday after Christine Blasey Ford testified that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her while they were in high school. Most Republicans left that meeting believing that Kavanaugh credibly denied the allegations, and that Democrats had done wrong by both Kavanaugh and Ford by pushing forward the allegations so late in the process.
“I think this has been shameful,” Cornyn said.
