Pence: "We have every confidence" Kavanaugh will win Senate confirmation
Despite extensive grilling by Senate Democrats during confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh this week, Vice President Mike Pence says he is confident Kavanaugh has the votes to be confirmed and take a seat on the high court.
In an interview with "Face the Nation" moderator Margaret Brennan, Pence said that he hopes his tie-breaking vote won't be needed in the Senate. "We'll see where we are," he said.
Kavanaugh has been strongly favored to win the 51 votes needed to be confirmed by the Senate. But with just 51 Republicans in the upper chamber, Pence could be called upon in his constitutional capacity as president of the Senate to cast the deciding vote if one GOP member votes against Kavanaugh's nomination. The Judiciary Committee will likely vote on Kavanaugh's nomination next week, and the full Senate vote is expected before the Supreme Court's upcoming term gets underway on Oct. 1.
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- Transcript: Vice President Mike Pence on "Face the Nation," September 9, 2018
Over the course of four days of hearings, Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee slammed the lack of access to thousands of documents relating to Kavanaugh's extensive record from his time in the Bush administration, and peppered Kavanaugh with questions about supposed inconsistencies in past congressional testimony.
"I have to tell you that despite the embarrassing display by many Senate Democrats in the Judiciary Committee, Judge Brett Kavanaugh showed the intellect, the temperament, the judicial philosophy that I believe should generate broad-based support in the United States Senate," Pence said. "And we have every confidence that Judge Brett Kavanaugh will very soon be Justice Brett Kavanaugh and take a seat on the Supreme Court."
