Democrats fought tooth and nail to delay the vote in committee and stop the floor vote, demanding a FBI investigation into allegations against Kavanaugh following Thursday’s testimony by the judge and one of his accusers, Christine Blasey Ford.

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At one point, nearly all the committee Democrats were in the adjacent chamber with Flake, trying to persuade the Arizona senator to join them in blocking the nomination. Flake, who is not running for re-election, finally said he would join his Republican colleagues in voting to advance the nomination to the Senate floor but requested a week’s delay for the FBI to investigate.

“I think it would be proper to delay the floor vote for up to, but no later than one week” to allow the FBI to conduct an investigation limited in time and scope, said Flake. “That’s my position.”

Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) called the vote, with all eleven Republicans voting in favor and all ten Democrats voting against.

Flake may or may not be comfortable, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) pointed out, but the floor vote is not up to him - or anyone else on the committee. “I love this committee but we’re not the majority leader. It doesn’t matter what we say here, this is up to Senators Schumer and McConnell,” Graham said, naming the minority and majority leaders.

A week’s delay would mean Kavanaugh would not be able to take his seat with the other eight Justices when they convene on Monday. McConnell (R-Kentucky) has said repeatedly he wanted to confirm President Donald Trump’s nominee before then.

Speaking at the White House on Friday, Trump said he has not thought “even a little bit” about alternatives in case Kavanaugh does not get confirmed.

“I'm going to let the Senate handle that. They'll make their decisions,” Trump told reporters.

Ford accused Kavanaugh of improper sexual behavior in in the 1980s, when they were both in high school. Her allegations only surfaced after the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings had ended, and Thursday’s testimonies revealed that Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-California) and her staff knew about them even as Feinstein herself failed to bring them up in her meetings with Kavanaugh.

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