BILLINGS – U.S. Sen. Steve Daines said Thursday that he will attend his daughter’s wedding in Montana Saturday, even though a key vote to confirm Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court is scheduled that same day.
“Two things are going to happen this weekend. We’re going to get a new Supreme Court Justice and I’m going to walk my daughter down the aisle,” Daines, a Montana Republican, said in a statement to Q2 News.
Republicans could potentially be in a bind to confirm Kavanaugh if Daines is a no-show. With a 51-49 majority, the GOP can only afford to lose one vote, assuming all Democrats vote no. Vice President Mike Pence would cast the deciding vote in the case of a tie.
Three key Republican moderates, Jeff Flake of Arizona, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine, have not said how they will vote on Kavanaugh, whose nomination has come under controversy following allegations of sexual assault from decades ago.
The FBI released completed its investigation into those allegations Thursday and is allowing senators to see the final report, one by one, in a locked room.
Daines said in a statement that he was briefed and has “read the FBI supplemental background file” and believes there is no evidence to corroborate the allegations of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, who says Kavanaugh attacked her more than 30 years ago when both were in high school.
