US Senator Mitch McConnell is telling evangelical activists the US Senate will "plow right through" and move to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.
Mr McConnell told the annual Values Voter conference Friday "in the very near future, Judge Kavanaugh will be on the United States Supreme Court".
"You all are following the current Supreme Court fight. And you will watch it unfold in the course of the next week. President Mr Trump has nominated a stunningly successful individual. You've watched the fight. You've watched the tactics.
"But here's what I want to tell you. In the very near future, Judge Kavanaugh will be on the United States Supreme Court."
He urged the Republican-leaning activists to "keep the faith" and predicts Senators will "do their jobs".
Mr McConnell's predictions come as California college professor Christine Blasey Ford accuses Mr Kavanaugh of sexual assault more than 30 years ago when they were teenagers. Mr Kavanaugh has denied the allegations.
Negotiations have been ongoing on whether Ms Ford will testify next week before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
But Mr McConnell says the accusations shouldn't stop Mr Kavanaugh getting the lifetime post.
"The single most consequential thing we can do is these lifetime appointments of men and women to the court who believe that the job of a judge is to follow the law. Shouldn't be controversial. Justice [Antonin] Scalia said you're not a very good judge if you're not occasionally unhappy with the outcome you reach because it's not your personal opinion. It's what is dictated by the Constitution or the law.
"Justice [Neil] Gorsuch put it this way - he said judges don't wear red robes or blue robes they wear black robes. So these are the kind of men and women that President [Donald] Trump has been setting up and we've been confirming and I hope it makes you proud. And if we can hold onto the Senate majority for two more years we're going to transform the federal judiciary with men and women who believe in this vision of America."
Mr Trump tweeted overnight that Mr Kavanaugh is a "fine man with an impeccable reputation", and cast doubt on Ms Ford's allegations, saying she should have filed them earlier.
APTN / Newshub.
