Georgians protest Kavanaugh nomination before Senate vote

ATLANTA - Protesters gathered in Atlanta to march against the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.

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Saturday morning, multiple organizations including the National Domestic Workers Alliance, Care in Action, NARAL Georgia, and more, joined together in opposition to Kavanaugh, calling his nomination an "affront to women and survivors everywhere."

The group gathered in Atlanta's Woodruff Park where they planned to march to Russell Federal Building.

This march is part of a nationwide protest coming one day after Republican Susan Collins of Maine and Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia announced they would back the appeals court judge.

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Their support makes Saturday's vote to confirm Kavanaugh an apparent formality after a battle that riveted the nation for nearly a month.

Republicans control the Senate by a 51-49 margin, and Saturday's roll call vote seems destined to be nearly party-line, with just a single defector from each side.

Republican Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, a fellow moderate and a friend of Collins, became the only Republican to say she opposed Kavanaugh. She said on the Senate floor Friday evening that Kavanaugh is "a good man" but his "appearance of impropriety has become unavoidable."

She added that with Supreme Court appointments lasting a lifetime, "Those who seek these seats must meet the highest standards in all respects, at all times. And that is hard."

In a twist, Murkowski said she will state her opposition but vote "present" as a courtesy to Kavanaugh supporter Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., who is attending his daughter's wedding in Montana. Murkowski said she'd use an obscure procedure that lets one senator offset the absence of another without affecting the outcome. That would let Kavanaugh win by the same two-vote margin he'd have received had both senators voted.

Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., who has repeatedly battled Trump and will retire in January, said he'd vote for Kavanaugh's confirmation "unless something big changes."

The vote caps a contest fought against the backdrop of the #MeToo movement and President Donald Trump's unyielding support of his Supreme Court nominee.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.