Judiciary Committee members have set a 1:30 PM vote on Friday to send Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation to the full Senate. The walkout came hours after Republican Senator Jeff Flake confirmed he will vote for Kavanaugh.
Democrats, including Congresswoman Kamala Harris (D-CA) and Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) got up and walked out in protest after it became clear that the Republicans had the votes necessary to confirm Kavanaugh.
The Democrats filed into the hallway and voiced their disappointment to reporters gathered in the hall. Senator Harris elbowed Senator Richard Blumenthal out of the way so she could speak at a microphone.
Harris complained that the Republicans are “pushing and pushing and ramming this thing through!” She called the vote a failure to protect victims.
Senator Flake was accosted in the elevator by two sex assault survivors who urged him to change his “yes” vote to no.
“I was sexually assaulted. Nobody believed me,” one survivor told him. “You’re telling all women in America that they don’t matter. They should just keep it to themselves.”
Senators Flake, Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins were holdouts following emotional testimonies given by Kavanaugh and his accuser Christine Blasey Ford before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday.
They all confirmed their plans to vote for Kavanaugh hours ago.
The Democrats continued to call for an FBI investigation into Ford’s allegations that Kavanaugh groped her at a house party 36 years ago.
The Republicans have the majority members in the Senate and the House. The Democrats hope to reverse the power after the upcoming midterm elections.
