Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Friday that he expected the chamber to vote on Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court by Oct. 1.
"The timetable typically for recent Supreme Court justices, if we stuck to that timetable and I intend to, would give us an opportunity to get this new justice on the court by the first of October," the Kentucky Republican told local reporters, according to The Hill.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, the Iowa Republican who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, has not said when the panel would hold Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing.
President Donald Trump on Monday nominated Kavanaugh, 53, who sits on the federal appellate bench in Washington, to succeed Justice Anthony Kennedy, 81, the Reagan appointee who has been on the court since 1988.
McConnell also predicted on Friday that the confirmation vote would probably occur in August or early September, the Hill reports.
The Senate will spend most of August in Washington after McConnell canceled three weeks of the summer recess last month.
McConnell said he believed Kavanaugh could win the 50 votes needed for confirmation.
Republicans hold a 51-49 majority in the Senate.
Three GOP senators — Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and McConnell's Bluegrass State colleague, Rand Paul — remain undecided on whether they will support Kavanaugh.
In addition, several red-state Democrats up for re-election also were not sure on their positions on the high court nominee, the Hill reports.
But McConnell said most members know how they intend to vote.
"I think most members who are in the undecided column will wait until the hearing," he told reporters. "My suspicion is there's a fairly small number of people who are genuinely undecided."
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