*By Carlo Versano*
The confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, which seemed increasingly likely on Friday morning, was thrown back into doubt after key swing vote Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) requested a one-week delay on a floor vote so the FBI could complete a background investigation. With that caveat, the Senate Judiciary Committee, on a straight party line, voted to approve, 11-10.
President Trump, reacting practically in real time, said he has not thought "even a little bit" about a replacement for Kavanaugh. As for an FBI investigation, Trump said, "I'm going to let the Senate handle that."
Protesters flanked the Dirksen U.S. Senate Building Friday morning, adding another layer of drama and tension after Thursday's fiery hearings featuring Kavanaugh and one of his accusers, Prof. Christine Blasey Ford.
After huddling with Democrats ー and being confronted by demonstrators ー Flake, who had just hours earlier indicated he was a "yes," said that while he supported the nomination, it was under the condition that there be a one-week delay for a full investigation. "We owe them due diligence," Flake said of Kavanaugh's named accusers, three women in total.
The implication, though not explicit, was that Flake's statement had the support of Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Susan Collins (R-ME). Without the three of them, the floor vote would fail. Murkowski later said she would support the delay.
As of Friday afternoon, the Committee does not have enough "yes" votes to confirm Kavanaugh.
President Biden on Tuesday called on the Senate to change its rules to allow the passage of voting rights legislation in his most pointed remarks yet on the issue.
2021's supply chain woes are quickly becoming a 2022 problem as well. Here's what experts are anticipating for Year Two of the supply chain crisis.
U.S. employers added a modest 199,000 jobs last month while the unemployment rate fell sharply, at a time when businesses are struggling to fill jobs with many Americans remaining reluctant to return to the workforce.
A top Tennessee House Republican lawmaker has apologized for losing his temper and being ejected from watching a high school basketball game after getting into a confrontation with a referee.
Locked in a dispute over his COVID-19 vaccination status, Novak Djokovic was confined to an immigration detention hotel in Australia on Thursday.
President Joe Biden addressed the nation Thursday from the U.S. Capitol Building, as it marks one year since rioters breached the building in a deadly attack.
Federal Reserve policymakers at a meeting last month said the U.S. job market was nearly at levels healthy enough that the central bank's low-interest rate policies were no longer needed.
The U.S. and the Iraqi military say a Katyusha rocket has struck an Iraqi military base hosting U.S. troops at Baghdad’s international airport, and in Syria, eight rounds of indirect fire hit a base where members of the U.S.-led coalition are deployed.
A record 4.5 million American workers quit their jobs in November, a sign of confidence and more evidence that the U.S. job market is bouncing back strongly from last year’s coronavirus recession.
American activists are appealing to Tesla Inc. to close a new showroom in China’s northwestern region of Xinjiang, where officials are accused of abuses against mostly Muslim ethnic minorities.
