There was one important hurdle still to overcome. Senator Steve Daines of Montana had recently informed the leadership that he couldn’t make the vote on Saturday. His daughter was getting married that day. He offered to fly back as soon as the ceremony was over. A fellow Montanan, Congressman Greg Gianforte, had offered him the use of his private plane if he needed it.
By the time Murkowski announced her decision, it was not a surprise. The conservative columnist Quin Hillyer now proposed how she could redeem her disappointing decision to vote against Kavanaugh. She should “restore a once-common Senate tradition that has fallen out of use,” which would show “courtesy, decency, and mutual respect.” It used to be common for a senator who could not be present for a vote to cooperate with a senator on the opposing side. That senator would “pair no” with the absent senator, who would “pair yes” (or vice versa), and neither of them would vote. To “pair no” is not the same as to vote “present,” which affects the number of votes needed for a simple majority.
Hillyer wrote, “Memo to Senator Murkowski: If you won’t vote for Brett Kavanaugh, at least demonstrate this collegiality so Senator Daines can act wholly as a dad on Saturday.”20 She took Hillyer’s suggestion, softening the blow of her decision.
Protesters were camped out as Collins left her house to head to her office on Saturday. They started singing and chanting early that morning. As she locked up, she apologized to a neighbor for the noise. He told her the protesters’ songs and chants were beautiful, but living next to a “rape apologist” was what troubled him.
On Saturday afternoon, October 6, just before four o’clock, the Senate began to vote, with Vice President Mike Pence presiding. A group from Concerned Women for America, having promised their support every step of the way, was there to pray. The vote was punctuated by the screams of protestors removed for violating the rule against “expressions of approval or disapproval.” Months of emotional outbursts like this had backfired, pushing some undecided votes away. The behavior of the conservatives who worked hard and kept their heads down—sometimes quite literally, as when they prayed—was a stark and appreciated contrast for these senators.
Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed as an associate justice of the Supreme Court by a margin of fifty to forty-eight. When the vote was over, many senators headed for the hills. Lee and Flake shared a car to the airport. It was unusual for a vote to take place on Saturday, and Senator Daines was not the only one with other plans.
“Whatever happens, I’m just glad we ruined Brett Kavanaugh’s life,” the comedy writer Ariel Dumas tweeted. She later apologized for her “tone-deaf attempt at sarcasm.” The tweet was at least an acknowledgment that the left had engaged in the politics of personal destruction.
All week long, Grassley’s staff had encouraged him to go on the Sunday-morning news shows to discuss his successful handling of the Kavanaugh nomination. While Grassley had overseen some of the Senate’s most contentious hearings and safely delivered Kavanaugh out of his committee against seemingly insurmountable odds, a lot of credit had gone to others. He said he would think about it. But on Saturday, he stood up and voted, walked out of the Senate chamber, and was on his way to the airport before the final vote was counted. “I don’t need to crow about it,” he told his staff. He later reflected, “Who wants to do that when I can be in Iowa? I go to my home church in Iowa. I eat with a couple of my kids after church. That’s the only time I get any peace and quiet and see the real world and contemplate things that ought to be contemplated every day.” “I always thought landslides were kind of boring anyway,” McConnell joked afterwards at a press conference, predicting that the anger in the Senate would blow over.
When a justice is confirmed by the Senate, he is sworn in as soon as possible by the chief justice, and Chief Justice Roberts did the honors in the conference room behind the courtroom a few hours later, with Justices Ginsburg, Kagan, Thomas, and Alito attending. Gorsuch, Sotomayor, and Breyer were unable to be there. The show of support was notable, since some justices have taken their oath with no colleagues present. Roberts had let the other justices know their presence was welcomed.
While the Kavanaugh family took part in the ceremony and a small reception inside the Supreme Court building, the chaos continued outside. Marshals had grown accustomed to the protesters trailing Kavanaugh throughout the confirmation process, but the Supreme Court police were caught off guard when hundreds of raucous protesters rushed the steps of the building, apparently trying to open the thirteen-ton bronze doors. Instead of trying to disperse them, the police monitored the mix of protesters and onlookers milling about, including one topless woman with a Hitler mustache who stood in front of the doors and another woman who climbed up into the lap of the giant statue of a woman representing the Contemplation of Justice.
When Justices Ginsburg and Kagan left the building, their car was surrounded by protesters throwing tomatoes and water bottles. So when the Kavanaughs and their guests were ready to leave, the Supreme Court police assembled a caravan, which exited through the south gate, sirens blaring, before the protesters realized what was happening. The Kavanaugh girls, thrilled by the sirens and police escort, assumed this was how they would travel from now on. Their parents hoped they were wrong.
On Monday, all the justices assembled in the East Room of the White House for Kavanaugh’s ceremonial swearing-in, some of them having sought assurance from the White House that the event would not be too political. Justice Kennedy arrived with his robe, unsure if he should wear it for the swearing-in. He had worn it when he administered the oath of office to Neil Gorsuch in a Rose Garden ceremony the year before. For Kavanaugh, he decided against it.
After introducing the justices and thanking Don McGahn, President Trump introduced Justice Kennedy and praised his lifetime of service. After the past few brutal weeks, everyone in the room was ebullient and ready to cheer. Senator McConnell received applause as well.
Trump said he would like to do something important: “On behalf of our nation, I want to apologize to Brett and the entire Kavanaugh family for the terrible pain and suffering you have been forced to endure. Those who step forward to serve our country deserve a fair and dignified evaluation, not a campaign of political and personal destruction based on lies and deception. What happened to the Kavanaugh family violates every notion of fairness, decency, and due process.”
“In our country, a man or woman must always be presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty,” the president said. Turning to Kavanaugh’s young children, he continued, “Margaret and Liza, your father is a great man. He is a man of decency, character, kindness, and courage who has devoted his life to serving his fellow citizens. And now, from the bench of our nation’s highest court, your father will defend the eternal rights and freedoms of all Americans. You know that.” As a former justice prepared to administer the oath to his successor and former clerk, Trump commented that it was “a beautiful moment which reminds us that freedom is a tradition passed down from generation to generation.”21
Justice Thomas, the only man in the room who fully understood what Kavanaugh had endured, clapped loudly.
Kavanaugh was glad his children could hear the kind remarks. When it was his turn to speak, he carefully avoided any hint of partisanship, reassuring the American people that he would be the same judge as always and would carry no bitterness with him. Some had questioned whether the man who testified in the second round of hearings could be impartial. He had been a judge for twelve years and was known for his equanimity after the partisan attacks occasioned by his appointment to the court of appeals. He had given a spirited defense of himself and his reputation at his Senate hearing, but that was an entirely different forum from the courtroom. He wanted to make sure that his new colleagues knew that.