The Week MHI dailybriefing ;

10 things you need to know today !

1. Senate votes 51-49 to advance Kavanaugh to final Saturday vote The Senate voted 51-49 Friday to advance Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination to a final vote, scheduled for Saturday by about 5 p.m. Eastern. The advancement came after senators spent a day taking turns with an FBI report regarding sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh. Democrats said the probe was too limited in scope, but Republicans said it provided sufficient closure on the matter. Friday’s voteran along party lines, save for Democrat Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Republican Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), who both crossed the aisle. Kavanaugh’s confirmation looks all but assured. The vote took place as protesters against the nomination interrupted the vote and as those for and against Kavanaugh marched on the Capitol grounds and at the Supreme Court. Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia was the only Democrat to vote for the nominee. Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska was the only Republican who opposed the nomination. Protesters staged a sit-in Saturday in front of the US Supreme Court ahead of Brett Kavanaugh’s final confirmation vote. They chanted “our streets” and expressed support for survivors as they sat in the middle of street. US Capitol Police tried to control the sit-in, but eventually backed off. Police arrested demonstrators who swarmed the steps of the Capitol to protest Kavanaugh’s confirmation. [CNN, C-SPAN] 2. Manchin, Collins, and Flake back Kavanaugh In a winding speech Friday afternoon, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) announced she will vote to confirm Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, condemning the “gutter-level” debate surrounding his nomination. A moment after she finished, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) announced he too would support Kavanaugh in Saturday’s vote. With fellow swing voter Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) also on board, Kavanaugh’s confirmation is nearly guaranteed. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) is the only Republican who said she opposes confirming Kavanaugh, though she will vote “present” so Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), a “yes” vote, does not have to skip his daughter’s wedding. [NBC News, CNN] 3. Kagan warns Supreme Court ‘middle position’ may be gone Retiring Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy served as someone “who found the center,” Justice Elena Kagan said Friday as nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation looked certain to succeed. “I think going forward, that sort of middle position — it’s not so clear whether we’ll have it,” she continued. Kagan spoke at Princeton University with Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who struck a more hopeful note. “We have to rise above partisanship in our personal relationships,” she said. “We have to treat each other with respect and dignity and with a sense of amicability that the rest of the world doesn’t often share.” Sotomayor said she sought out “the good” in her colleagues and that the court’s members had a practice of maintaining collegial relationships even in times of disagreement. “If you start from the proposition that there’s something good in everyone it’s a lot easier to get along with them,” she said. “It’s just the nine of us,” Kagan added. “We all have a vested interest in having good relations with one another.” The two justices, both Princeton graduates, were interviewed before an audience of more than 3,000 by another alumna, Heather Gerken, who currently serves as the Dean of Kavanaugh’s alma mater, Yale Law School. Though she did not raise the allegations of sexual misconduct against Kavanaugh on Friday, Gerken had previously said in a statement she shared the “deep concern” of other Yale faculty members about his nomination. [The Hill, CBS News] 4. Ford opposes Kavanaugh impeachment, attorneys say Christine Blasey Ford, who accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault, does not want him to be impeached should Democrats regain control of Congress, her attorneys said Friday as Kavanaugh’s confirmation process neared its close. “Professor Ford has not asked for anything of the sort,” said Ford lawyer Debra Katz. “What she did was to come forward and testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee and agree to cooperate with any investigation by the FBI, and that’s what she sought to do here.” Katz said Ford does not regret her allegations. Deborah Ramirez, a woman who accuses Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her while the two attended Yale, sought to knock down claims that she also does not have corroborating witnesses for her allegations — claiming the FBI did not interview potential witnesses. Kavanaugh has repeatedly denied all claims of sexual impropriety under oath. Ford testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee last week that she was “100 percent” sure Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in the 1980s, a claim he repeatedly denied in his own testimony. Ford’s legal team and GOP committee staffers have argued for weeks over her testimony and what additional evidence she would provide, if any, to the committee. Among the documents the two sides have debated over are the details of a polygraph test and notes from her therapist. The latter are said to document the first time she told anyone about the alleged assault. [CNN, Politico] 5. Police officer found guilty of second-degree murder in McDonald shooting A jury on Friday found Jason Van Dyke, a white police officer charged with killing a black teenager in 2014, guilty of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm. Van Dyke, who shot 17-year-old Laquan McDonald 16 times, is the first Chicago police officer to be convicted of murder for an on-duty shooting in about 50 years. Video of the shooting showed McDonald walking away from officers when Van Dyke opened fire, yet the defense argued Van Dyke believed his life was in danger because McDonald was holding a knife. Van Dyke faces decades in prison. [The New York Times, CNN] 6. Pompeo in Japan pledges ‘fully coordinated’ stance on North Korea Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was in Japan Saturday reassuring the long-time American ally its connection to the United States would not be negatively affected by developments in Washington’s relationship with Pyongyang. He told Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe their meeting is necessary “so we have a fully coordinated and unified view” on North Korean denuclearization progress, as well as North Korean “missile programs [and chemical and biological weapons] programs.” Pompeo will travel to Pyongyang Sunday to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un before heading to South Korea and China. [NBC News, The Associated Press] 7. Court rules against DOJ on sanctuary cities A federal judge on Friday ruled against the Department of Justice in a case against California concerning sanctuary cities. At issue was Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ policy of making public safety grants dependent on cities’ compliance with his department’s demand for cooperation of local police forces with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) efforts to crack down on illegal immigration. Sessions required grant recipient cities to share information as well as prison and jail access with ICE. Sanctuary cities limit cooperation with federal immigration agents, arguing immigrants will be discouraged from reporting crime if they are worried about deportation. [Reuters, The Hill] 8. Federal personnel director resigns Office of Personnel Management chief Jeff Pon resigned Friday after about eight months on the job, an announcement little noticed amid the furor over Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. A White House statement on Pon’s departure did not say why he is leaving. For now, his duties will be assumed by Margaret Weichert, deputy director for management at the White House Office of Management and Budget. Weichert, who will also keep her current role, said she is focused on “driving and really modernizing how we think about governing and our workforce.” Weichert said the decision is in line with Trump’s “management agenda.” She has played a key role in the administration’s effort to reform the civil service. “What I would say is that the broader objectives of the president’s management agenda are focusing on driving and really modernizing how we think about governing and our workforce in the 21st century. The president wants me to continue the work that we are doing around the president’s management agenda,” said Weichert. The OPM is an independent federal agency tasked with overseeing the federal civilian workforce. Its previous Senate-confirmed director, Katherine Archuelta, was forced to resign in 2015 after it was revealed that 20 million people’s personal information was stolen in a major data breach. Trump’s announcement was widely overshadowed by the confirmation battle surrounding Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. The announcement was made during undeclared Sen. Susan Collins‘s (R-Maine) highly anticipated floor speech, during which she announced she would vote for the judge. [The Hill, The Washington Post] 9. Interpol chief reported missing in China French police have opened an investigation into the whereabouts of Meng Hongwei, the head of the international police agency Interpol, after his wife reported him missing Friday during a trip to China. Meng, 64, traveled to his home country on Sept. 29, and his wife told French police at Interpol’s Lyon headquarters she hasn’t heard from him since. Meng has held several positions in China, including vice minister of public security and director of anti-narcotics and anti-terrorism offices. Interpol’s main purpose is to give police forces in different countries a way to alert their peers about wanted suspects. Meng is the first from his country to serve as Interpol’s president, a post that is largely symbolic but powerful in status and not without political weight. But because Interpol’s secretary general is responsible for the day-to-day running of the police agency’s operations, Meng’s absence may have little operational effect. Far from being a Hollywood-style agency with agents toting weapons across the globe, Interpol is low-profile and discrete about its cases, unless it wants to talk. The organization links up police officials of its 192 member states, who can use Interpol to disseminate their search for a fugitive, or a missing person. Only at the behest of a country does the information go public via a “red notice,” the closest thing to an international arrest warrant. “Yellow notices” are issued for missing persons. But Interpol walks a fine line between its noble mission — facilitating international police cooperation — and the politics and policies of some of its member countries. Meng’s appointment as president in 2016 — amid Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s sweeping anti-corruption drive — alarmed some human rights organizations, fearful it would embolden China to strike out at dissidents and refugees abroad. Such actions would be contrary to Interpol’s mission statement: “Action is taken within the limits of existing laws in different countries and in the spirit of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.” It adds that “intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character” are prohibited. Meng has a shiny curriculum vita, having held down various positions within China’s security establishment, including as a vice minister of public security — the national police force — since 2004. In the meantime, he served as head and deputy head of branches of the coast guard, all while holding positions at Interpol. His term in Lyon runs until 2020. His duties in China would have put him in close proximity to former leaders, some who had fallen afoul of Xi’s campaign. He likely dealt extensively with former security chief Zhou Yongkang, now serving a life sentence for corruption. Xi has placed a premium on getting officials and businesspeople accused of fraud and corruption to return from abroad, making Meng’s position even more sensitive. The anti-corruption drive recently drew headlines after the disappearance three months ago of “X-Men” star Fan Bingbing, one of the country’s best-known actresses. Her whereabouts remain unknown. But on Thursday, Chinese tax authorities spoke publicly about her disappearance public, ordering her and companies she represents to pay taxes and penalties totaling $130 million. Fan is being fined around $70 million personally for tax evasion. Still out of the public eye, she issued a statement apologizing for her actions. China, in the midst of a weeklong holiday, offered no comment on the disappearance of Meng. In France, there were only questions. The French are “obviously aware of the disappearance but know nothing more at this stage,” said one diplomatic official, unauthorized to comment publicly on the matter and speaking only on condition of anonymity. [The Associated Press, Reuters] 10. Ford to cut jobs, reorganize workforce Ford Motor Company is planning to reorganize its workforce, the auto manufacturer said Friday, including cutting an as yet unknown number of its 70,000 salaried positions globally. “The reorganization will result in headcount reduction over time and this will vary based on team and location,” said a company statement. Mark Truby, vice president of global communications at Ford, said executives would “need to dig into the process deeper” before being able to share “the absolutes” of how many jobs will go and how they will be terminated. [The Wall Street Journal, Detroit Free Press] The Week MHI