Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell vowed a vote this week on Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court in a defiant floor speech Monday afternoon.
“The time for endless delay and obstruction has come to a close. Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination is out of committee. We’re considering it here on the floor. And, Mr. President, we’ll be voting this week,” McConnell said.
McConnell’s speech comes as the FBI is conducting an investigation into decades-old sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh. The FBI investigation came at the request of several Senators after forceful testimony Kavanaugh and one of his accusers, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. Ford alleges Kavanaugh assaulted her at a party while they were both teenagers living in Washington, D.C., suburbs.
The White House has given the FBI a mandate to interview anyone it would like with respect to allegations against Kavanaugh with the request that the investigation is done by the end of the week.
Ford, however, was unable to provide key details to the committee during her testimony. A sex crimes prosecutor commissioned by the Judiciary Committee wrote a memo to Senate Republicans saying that Ford’s allegation does not have a level of evidence needed to bring a prosecution.