On June 27th, 2018, Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement from the Supreme Court. He stated that his tenure would be coming to an end about a month later, on July 31st. This allowed President Trump the opportunity to send a second Justice to the court since his November 2016 election. His choice was Brett Kavanaugh, a Yale graduated law clerk. Kavanaugh had an extremely high opposition rate at 42%, which is the highest since 1987.

Multiple sexual assault allegations were cast in the direction of Kavanaugh. Many words were surrounding Judge Kavanaugh, such as “alcoholic” “belligerent” and “aggressive” and these words permeated the minds of the American public, with Senators and citizens pondering the truth of such claims. On September 27th, the Senate called Christine Blasey Ford to the stand to provide her side of the story, and Kavanaugh’s rebuttal followed her accusations.

A visibily angry and loud Kavanaugh denied every sexual assault claim thrown in his direction. The public was divided, some siding with Ford, others with Kavanaugh. 

Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona requested an FBI investigation to be completed by in the following week, which was executed. The FBI investigation was described as “limited in scope” by President Trump, and it was completed by the seven day deadline. The senators were permitted to review the investigation one by one, and on October 6th, a decision was made.

Kavanaugh was confirmed to the Supreme Court with a strikingly close 50-48 vote. This was the closest confirmation vote since a 24-23 vote in 1881, more than a century ago. The American public continues to search for the truth behind Ford’s claims, and with all the tension and political discourse, and many are still left without closure.