Senate final vote expected Saturday: NPR

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Updated at 11:54 ET

The Senate is expected to vote Saturday on the appointment of Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court and, barring any major unforeseen developments, it will likely be confirmed by the smaller margins.

In one tweet saturday morningPresident Trump hinted that the final vote would take place in the afternoon or early evening, adding that the day was a "great day for America!"

Asked about the #MeToo movement and her husband's recent comments on her potential impact on men, the first lady, Melania Trump, spoke on Kavanaugh's controversial candidacy. "I would say that if we are talking about the Supreme Court and Judge Kavanaugh, I think it's highly qualified for the Supreme Court," Trump said when addressing reporters in Egypt at the time. an international trip to Africa. "I am pleased that Dr. Ford has been heard, I am pleased that Judge Kavanaugh has been heard, the FBI investigation has been completed, is over and the Senate has voted."

But when asked if she believed that Christine Blasey Ford had alleged that Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted her more than three decades ago, while they were both in high school, the first lady did not want to answer directly. "I'm going to move on to that and I think all the victims they need – we have to help all the victims, no matter what kind of abuse they've suffered, but I'm against any kind of victim." Abuse or violence, "explained the first lady.

On Friday, after the bid had eliminated a key procedural hurdle with a vote of 51-49, two previously undecided senators, Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Joe Manchin, D -W.Va they would support Kavanaugh. This supports almost every Republican vote they need to advance the appointment on the finish line.

In a much anticipated speech Friday afternoon in the Senate, Ms. Collins said that she believed that Ford was a survivor of a sexual assault. Nevertheless, said Collins, the allegations "do not meet the standard" more likely than unlikely "" and "I do not believe that these charges could fairly prevent Judge Kavanaugh from sitting in court".

And in a statement issued shortly after Collins spoke, Manchin explained that he supported Kavanaugh despite the "serious charges" against the judge and the outstanding issues about Kavanaugh's temperament.

"I have reservations about this vote given the serious charges against Judge Kavanaugh and the temperament he displayed at the hearing," Manchin said. "And I am wholeheartedly with all the people who have suffered a type of sexual assault in their lives.However, based on all the information I have, including the recently drafted FBI report, I am I concluded that Justice Kavanaugh was qualified as a jurist who will follow the Constitution and decide cases on the basis of the legal conclusions before him, and I hope that Judge Kavanaugh will not accept the partisan nature that this process took to follow him on the ground. "

In an interview with NPR on Friday, a Ford attorney said the Californian professor's goal was never to derail his appointment. "Dr. Ford's goal has never been to impact the derailing process of an application," said lawyer Lisa Banks at All things Considered. What she was trying to do was what she thought was the right thing to do as a citizen, to provide information to the US Senate so that it could make the most informed decision possible. The aim was not to derail this nomination. It was to inform the bid and she did it. "

If the vote goes as planned, Kavanaugh will become President Trump's second Supreme Court appointment, creating a conservative 5-to-4 majority in the country's highest judicial body for years to come.