According to CNN, the final vote was 50 to 48. The confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh is a victory for U.S. President Donald Trump for appointing two conservative associate justices to the Supreme Court, along with associate justice Neil Gorsuch.
This confirmation took place after a “divisive fight,” which saw extended protests and vigorous campaigning both for and against Kavanaugh. This followed the testimony of Christine Blasey Ford, seen as emblematic of the #MeToo culture’s rising influence. Ford attested that she suffered sexual abuse from Kavanaugh and a friend during high school. Kavanaugh denied these claims, but the backlash has seen him rejected as an instructor at Harvard, and letters pour in from concerned lawyers across the U.S., protesting his appointment to the country’s Supreme Court.
Kavanaugh is set to place retired Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, who was known for being the “swing vote” pertaining to many controversial issues such as abortion, affirmative action, and LGBTQ rights.
In a tweet, President Trump congratulated Kavanaugh. “I applaud and congratulate the U.S. Senate for confirming our great nominee, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, to the United States Supreme Court,” Trump posted, prior to noting that he will sign his Commission of Appointment, and he will subsequently be sworn in.
He joins such Associate Justices as Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Samuel Alito, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Neil Gorsuch, as well as Chief Justice John Roberts.
