Daines confirms he will be present for Kavanaugh vote
GOP Senator will be present to vote for Judge Kavanaugh.
Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont. told Fox News exclusively on Thursday that although he will walk his daughter down the aisle at her wedding in Montana on Saturday, his plans won't affect Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation vote scheduled for the same day in Washington.
Speaking to host Shannon Bream on "Fox News @ Night," Daines said he personally called Kavanaugh Thursday evening and told him, "I'm going to be there to vote for you as needed."
He continued: "I've got a wedding on Saturday. My goal this weekend is to walk my daughter down the aisle, and to see a new U.S. Supreme Court Justice put on the court."
Because Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., started a procedural clock Thursday evening, Republicans cannot technically delay the final confirmation vote on Saturday unless they secure the consent of all 100 senators. (50 affirmative votes are needed for Friday morning's procedural vote to invoke cloture, meaning to formally end debate and move forward to Saturday's final vote.)
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The GOP could, however, hold the session open for several hours, allowing Daines to vote late Saturday or even Sunday if needed. "Votes are held open all the time," Daines said.
He added: "The next most important vote is [Friday] at 10:30 [a.m. ET]. ... We're going to find out a lot tomorrow. And we've got a plan ready to go."
"My goal this weekend is to walk my daughter down the aisle, and to see a new U.S. Supreme Court Justice."
Republicans command a narrow 51-49 majority in the Senate, and several key swing-vote senators haven't yet announced how they will vote on Kavanaugh.
But Daines said Thursday he hoped they would vote to confirm, adding that he spent three hours reviewing the FBI's confidential background check into Kavanaugh earlier in the day, and that "there's absolutely zero corroborating evidence to support" the sexual misconduct allegations against the nominee.
Daines’ office told Fox News that the timing of the FBI’s recent probe into sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh was fluid, meaning it was not known that there would be a conflict with his wedding until recently.
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Daines will be in attendance Friday morning when the Senate takes a vote to end debate on Kavanaugh's nomination.
Fox News’ Peter Doocy and Chad Pergram contributed to this report.
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