In a close 50-48 vote Saturday afternoon, the Republican-held Senate confirmed Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Kavanaugh’s confirmation marks the end of months of partisan feuding as he becomes the second Supreme Court justice nominated by Donald Trump to sit the bench.

Before the confirmation was completed, protesters in the gallery of the Senate yelled as a last-moment plea to the Senators to deny Kavanaugh.

While these protests were going on, Vice President Mike Pence presided over the Senate and repeated, “The Sergeant at Arms will restore order to the gallery” until the protesters were taken away.  

Democrats in the Senate objected Kavanaugh’s nomination in speeches throughout Friday and Saturday morning, however his confirmation was all but assured after critical swing votes from Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz.; Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., announced their support for Kavanaugh on Friday night.

These announcements followed the conclusion of an FBI investigation into the sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. Kavanaugh has denied these allegations.

Democrats have denounced the investigation, claiming it was not thorough enough and excluded key witness testimony. Sen. Jerrold Nadler, D-New York, called the FBI efforts “a whitewash” and vowed to open a new investigation if the Democrats take the Senate in the upcoming midterm elections.

Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Arizona, sits on the Senate Judiciary committee and voted to move to advance Kavanaugh’s nomination to the final vote after the conclusion of the FBI investigation. Early Friday morning he confirmed he’d be voting in favor of Kavanaugh in the final vote “unless something big changes.”

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said she believed Dr. Christine Blasey Ford was a survivor of sexual assault, but she did not feel the accusation against Kavanaugh had been corroborated.

“I do not believe these charges can fairly prevent Judge Kavanaugh from serving on the court,” Collins said. “Certain fundamental legal principles about due process, the presumption of innocence and fairness do bear on my thinking, and I cannot abandon them.”

While most senators adhered to party line, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia, and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, announced their intentions to break from the majority of their party on Friday.

Within moments after Collins announced she would vote for Kavanaugh, Manchin announced his support.

“I have reservations about this vote given the serious accusations against Judge Kavanaugh and the temperament he displayed in the hearing,” Manchin said. “And my heart goes out to anyone who has experienced any type of sexual assault in their life. However, based on all of the information I have available to me, including the recently completed FBI report, I have found Judge Kavanaugh to be a qualified jurist.”

Murkowski, the lone Republican to break from party lines and vote against Kavanaugh’s nomination, also explained her reasoning Friday night.

“I believe we’re dealing with issues right now that are bigger than the nominee, and how we ensure fairness and how our legislative and judicial branch can continue to be respected,” Murkowski said. “This is what I have been wrestling with, and so I made the — took the very difficult vote that I did. I believe Brett Kavanaugh’s a good man. It just may be that in my view he’s not the right man for the court at this time.”

For more information on the implications of Kavanaugh’s appointment and reactions from members of the Iowa State community, look to our previous coverage.