Tipsheet: Senate poised to confirm Kavanaugh after bitter fight

View in your browser     Senate poised to confirm Kavanaugh after bitter fight BY JORDAIN CARNEY   The Senate is set to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court during a rare Saturday session, marking the end of a deeply partisan and rancorous fight that has rocked some senators' confidence in the upper chamber. The vote is expected to hand President Trump and Senate Republicans their second Supreme Court justice in as many years and deliver a significant victory roughly a month before a midterm election where control of Congress hangs in the balance. Read the full story here     How Kavanaugh got the votes BY ALEXANDER BOLTON   Senate Republicans say they saw Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) from the start as the key to confirming Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court and worked together as a team to cajole her when appropriate, but also to give her space to make her own decision. Read the full story here     McConnell: Kavanaugh fight a 'wake up call' ahead of November election BY JORDAIN CARNEY Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Friday night that the fight over Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh was a "wake up call" ahead of the November midterm elections. Read the full story here     Murkowski says she opposes Kavanaugh's nomination, but will vote 'present' BY JORDAIN CARNEY Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said Friday evening that she opposed Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination, becoming the only Republican senator to come out against President Trump's nominee. Read the full story here       Trump Jr. slams Manchin over timing of Kavanaugh decision: 'Real profile in courage' BY JOHN BOWDEN Donald Trump Jr. slammed West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin on Friday over the Democratic senator's timing in announcing his support for President Trump's Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, calling Manchin a "lyin' liberal." Read the full story here     Kagan warns that Supreme Court may not have a swing vote anymore BY JUSTIN WISE Associate Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan said Friday she fears the high court may lack a justice going forward who would serve as a swing-vote on cases, speaking hours after President Trump's second nominee Brett Kavanaugh secured enough votes to be confirmed. Read the full story here     Ford lawyers blast 'numerous false claims' about FBI investigation ahead of Kavanaugh confirmation vote BY JOHN BOWDEN Lawyers for Christine Blasey Ford, the first woman to publicly accuse Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault, blasted senators on Friday for "false" claims about the days-long FBI investigation into the allegations ahead of Friday's cloture vote. Read the full story here     GOP senator: Kavanaugh 'won't feel like a winner' after confirmation BY JOHN BOWDEN Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) lamented Friday that neither Brett Kavanaugh nor Christine Blasey Ford, the woman accusing the Supreme Court nominee of sexual assault, would feel like "winners" following his bitter confirmation battle. Read the full story here     Trump replaces federal personnel director BY JORDAN FABIAN President Trump on Friday abruptly replaced the director of federal personnel with a top official at the Office of Management and Budget, according to the White House. Read the full story here     Anti-abortion rights Dem candidates dwindle as party shifts left BY MAX GREENWOOD AND LISA HAGEN No Democrat in a competitive House race this year is running on an anti-abortion rights platform, in a significant shift from 2006 when the party reclaimed the House with a more ideologically diverse slate of candidates. Read the full story here     Term limits for justices are the best way to fix this Supreme Court mess BY ALAN MORRISON OPINION | Is there anyone who thinks that the current way we nominate and confirm Supreme Court justices is good for the bench, the nominees, the Senate, or the warring factions? It is almost certainly impossible to take politics out of the process entirely, but we can reduce the heat if we lower the stakes by regularizing appointments and limiting the terms of the justices to 18 years.  Read the full story here     Blame Senate, not FBI, for Kavanaugh travesty BY KEVIN BROCK OPINION | Not since Harry Houdini nearly ran out of air in a water-filled milk can has anyone been in a more difficult position. “No win” doesn’t begin to capture the FBI’s sudden status as the perceived validator of that which we’ve all just seen and heard offered publicly under oath. Read the full story here     The New York Times: Bitter Tenor of Senate Reflects a Nation at Odds With Itself By Alexander Burns As he helped speed Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh’s embattled nomination toward a vote this week, Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the Republican chairman of the Judiciary Committee, declared that the Senate was approaching “rock bottom” and needed to right itself. Read the full story here     The Washington Post: ‘Willing to go to the mat’: How Trump, Republicans carried Kavanaugh to the cusp of confirmation By  Philip Rucker, Ashley Parker, Sean Sullivan and Seung Min Kim Again and again, President Trump was instructed not to do it. A cadre of advisers, confidants and lawmakers all urged him — implored him, really — not to personally attack the women who had accused Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh of sexual assault. So he did it anyway. Read the full story here     CNN: The effort to unseat Susan Collins in 2020 is already underway By Dan Merica, Eric Bradner and Gregory Krieg       Sen. Susan Collins was already one of the Democrats' biggest Senate targets in 2020 when she took to the Senate floor Friday to announce she would vote to confirm Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Read the full story here     NBC News: Chicago takes to the streets following murder conviction By Safia Samee Ali and Doha Madani    Activists in Chicago used protests to celebrate the murder conviction of a white police officer who killed a black teenager in 2014. Read the full story here     The Associated Press: Two Republican senators, two divergent paths on Kavanaugh By Matthew Daly and Ken Thomas Though they reached opposite conclusions, both  Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Sen. Susan Collins of Maine had faced similar political pressure heading into Friday’s key vote on Kavanaugh’s high court nomination. 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