Do GOP Sen. Jeff Flake's dramatic Kavanaugh demands actually matter?

Jeff Flake.
(Image credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) sure made his "yes" dramatic. Even as he voted Friday to advance Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, he unexpectedly called for a delay in the full Senate vote until after there's an FBI investigation. The only problem is, it's not clear just how much leverage Flake has.

After Thursday's riveting Senate hearing on sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh, Flake announced Friday his intention to vote yes on confirmation. But as the Senate Judiciary Committee prepared to vote to send his nomination to the full Senate, the Arizona senator had a sudden request: He said he would "only be comfortable" voting for the Supreme Court nominee on the Senate floor if there was first a week-long FBI probe into the sexual assault allegations. But since Flake still voted to move the nomination out of committee, there was no guarantee that this will actually come to fruition; no vote was actually taken on what Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) called a "gentlemen's and -women's agreement."

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Brendan Morrow

Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.