US Senate to vote on Trump's Supreme Court nominee Kavanaugh

WASHINGTON - US senators, expected to vote Friday morning on the confirmation of President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, are still highly divided along partisan lines over the results of a probe into allegations of sexual misconduct against the judge.

Nevertheless, the odds of confirmation rose after a report by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) found "no hint of misconduct."

"It's time to vote," said Republican Senate Judiciary chair Chuck Grassley on Thursday.

If the procedural vote passes, the Senate could move to a final vote as early as Saturday, one month before the Nov 6 midterm elections.

Local media said only four senators holding key swing votes were still undecided. They are Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Republicans Jeff Flake of Arizona, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.

However, Flake and Collins have sent positive signals for Kavanaugh's confirmation earlier on Thursday, hours after the FBI submitted a report to the Capitol on its investigation into the sexual misconduct accusations.

"No additional corroborating information" was found in the FBI supplemental background investigation, said Flake.

"It appears to be a very thorough investigation, but I'm going back later to personally read the interviews," Collins said.

The White House and Republican Senate leaders said the FBI report found no evidence of wrongdoing, while Democrats said the White House tied the FBI's hands, resulting in a probe that is not thorough.

"Candidly, what we reviewed today in a very limited time ... looks to be a product of an incomplete investigation that was limited, perhaps by the White House, I don't know," said Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

"We had many fears that this was a very limited process that would constrain the FBI from getting all the facts," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Thursday morning. "Having received a thorough briefing on the documents, those fears have been realized."

Republicans hold 51 seats in the Senate and changed Senate rules last year to end filibusters for Supreme Court nominees. In the case of a 50-50 tie, Vice President Mike Pence might break it in favor of Kavanaugh.