Senators vote on Kavanaugh's nomination

Montana Sen. Steve Daines will be out Saturday because he will be attending his daughter's wedding.

But Daines' spokesperson said he "is prepared to come back and vote after the wedding."

Why it matters: That means that the final vote on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation could be held up for many hours, potentially overnight.

Whether that happens is uncertain. Assuming the votes stay the same, and there's no reason to think otherwise. Here's what could happen:

The final vote would be 50-49 with Daines' absence, enough to confirm Kavanaugh. That would tie the closest margin for any confirmed Supreme Court nominee in history.
If Daines were to return, GOP senators would have to preside over the Senate to keep the chamber open until late into the night and potentially early morning Sunday. A source familiar with the matter said Daines has lined up GOP senators to do that if he returns. GOP Rep. Greg Gianforte plans to allow Daines to use his private plane to return after the wedding.

Ultimately, it will be Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's decision on whether to keep the vote open for Daines. And for the moment, it's uncertain what McConnell will do.

The vote is expected to start tomorrow right before 5 p.m. ET, assuming all 30 hours of debate are used up. But it's possible it could start earlier if Republicans yield back some of their debate time. So the exact time has not been set at this point.

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