What to watch nextThe next immediate step in the Senate will be Friday’s cloture vote. While it is a procedural step, it’s important to think of it as a signal of how serious swing votes are in their readiness to take a final vote.
If the three moderate Republicans — Flake (AZ), Susan Collins (ME) and Lisa Murkowski (AK) — all vote down the cloture motion, for example, that could indicate that Kavanaugh’s nomination is effectively dead in the water. It could also mean that they’d like to see debate continue for a bit longer.
In another scenario, it’s also possible that the trio — along with other closely-watched Senators like Democrats Joe Manchin and Heidi Heitkamp — end up voting in favor of the cloture motion, but announce that they are still “undecided†on Kavanaugh’s actual nomination.
In the latter case, if a cloture vote happens and passes on Friday morning, Senators will have until roughly Saturday evening to make up their minds. It would basically mean another 30 hours of back-and-forth and will-they-won’t-they speculation.
Something to keep in mind in between
One big unknown between now and Friday’s cloture vote is how Senators — and the broader public — will react to the findings detailed in the FBI report, which includes summaries of interviews that the agency has conducted with witnesses about sexual misconduct allegations brought against Kavanaugh.
As of now, there are still three potential paths forward.
https://www.vox.com/2018/10/3/17934260/mitch-mcconnell-brett-kavanaugh-cloture
