McConnell calls Kavanaugh confirmation proudest moment as senator

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Sunday that he believes the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh is his proudest accomplishment in the upper chamber.

“I think so,” he responded when asked on “Fox News Sunday” if it is his proudest moment.

“I think the most important thing the Senate is involved in is the personnel business. The House is not in the personnel business,” McConnell said.

“The most important are the lifetime appointments to the courts, and we’ve prioritized handling President Trump’s outstanding nominations for the Supreme Court,” he added.

{mosads}Kavanaugh became the second Supreme Court justice confirmed under the Trump administration with McConnell as the leader of the Senate. In addition, McConnell has gotten roughly two dozen circuit judges confirmed since Trump took office.

McConnell has earned praise from more hard-line conservatives for confirming court nominees.

Even Stephen Bannon, the former White House strategist and ex-Breitbart News chief who had previously called on McConnell to resign, praised the majority leader over Kavanaugh’s confirmation.

“It’s almost an out-of-body experience, I must say,” McConnell joked Sunday about receiving praise from Bannon.

The Senate confirmed Kavanaugh on Saturday afternoon in a 50-48 vote, with one GOP senator absent and another voting “present.” Every Democrat opposed Kavanaugh’s nomination except for Sen. Joe Manchin(D-W.Va.). 

The bitter fight over Kavanaugh’s confirmation came after multiple women accused the judge of sexual misconduct. Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford testified late last month over allegations that he sexually assaulted her during a party in the 1980s. 

A supplemental FBI background investigation found no corroboration of the claims, Republicans said, while Democrats argued that the review of the allegations was too brief and failed to interview key witnesses.

McConnell has drawn criticism from Democrats for following through on Kavanaugh’s confirmation in a midterm election season after the majority leader refused to give Judge Merrick Garland a hearing during former President Obama’s final year in office.

McConnell on Sunday refused to rule out pushing through a Supreme Court nomination in Trump’s final year of his term if a vacancy arose.