The Supreme Court began its October term on October 1, and now has its new ninth member, Brett Kavanaugh, who replaced retired Justice Anthony Kennedy, for whom Kavanaugh once served as a clerk. Kavanaugh was sworn in shortly after being confirmed on Saturday, October 6, after highly contentious committee hearings and Senate debate. The confirmation vote in the Senate was close – 50-48. One Democrat, Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who is up for re-election this year, joined Republicans to vote in favor of confirmation. One Republican, Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, opposed confirmation. (As a courtesy to her Republican colleague Steve Daines of Montana, Senator Murkowski invoked a procedure known as “pairing,” changing her “no” vote to “present” to maintain the two-vote margin that would have resulted had Senator Steve Daines been present to vote “yes.” This made Senator Daines more comfortable staying home in Montana for his daughter’s wedding, and explains why there was a total of 98 votes instead of 100.)
Encourage confidence to act