The Latest: Coons doesn’t know how Flake, others will vote

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh (all times local):

7:45 a.m.

Democratic Sen. Chris Coons, who helped broker a deal with Republican Sen. Jeff Flake that led to an expanded FBI background investigation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, says he doesn’t know how Flake or the other undecided senators will vote.

Coons, of Delaware, told ABC’s “Good Morning America” Friday that his undecided friends are not returning his phone calls, “and that typically is a way a senator tells you they’re busy deciding.”

The Senate is poised to take a crucial vote Friday on whether to advance Kavanaugh’s nomination amid his denials of allegations of sexual misconduct when he was in high school and college. Flake, of Arizona, and two other Republican senators have not announced how they’ll vote. Neither has Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia.

Republican Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley said on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” he doesn’t yet know how the vote will come out but respects his fellow senators’ decision to keep quiet as they consider what to do.

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1:45 a.m.

The Senate is taking a crucial vote Friday to advance Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court. Key GOP senators remain undecided amid allegations of sexual misconduct and intense protests dividing the nation.

The 53-year-old judge made what were in effect closing arguments by acknowledging that he became “very emotional” when forcefully denying the allegations at a Judiciary Committee hearing last week. But in an op-ed published Thursday he insists he remains the same “hardworking, even-keeled” person as always.

Tensions are high at the Capitol, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is pushing ahead with little room for error. Republicans have a slim 51-49 hold on the Senate. A final vote is expected Saturday.