The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday advanced a controversial appeals court nominee after weeks of being in limbo.

Senators voted 12-10 along party lines to send Steven Menashi’s nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit to the full Senate.

The committee’s vote had been in limbo for weeks as Sen. John Kennedy John Neely KennedyMORE (R-La.) mulled whether to support him.

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But the Louisiana Republican said on Thursday that he would support Menashi, whose writings he has studied in recent days.

“I spent a lot of time on this and I’m going to vote for his nomination because I think his reasons are carefully, carefully articulated,” Kennedy said ahead of the vote.

Menashi sparked bipartisan frustration during his hearing before the committee in September when he declined to answer questions, including those about his work in the Trump White House.

“I didn’t like the fact that the nominee wouldn’t straight up answer questions. ... I didn’t like it all,” Kennedy acknowledged on Thursday.

Menashi has also garnered widespread opposition from Democrats and their outside group allies over his writings on the Muslim community and his work in the Trump administration.

Protesters confronted Republican senators over the vote as they left Thursday’s vote.

No Democrats on the panel supported to him, and his two home-state senators, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand Kirsten GillibrandSunday shows preview: Justice Ginsburg dies, sparking partisan battle over vacancy before election Suburban moms are going to decide the 2020 election Jon Stewart urges Congress to help veterans exposed to burn pits MORE (D-N.Y.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer Chuck SchumerPelosi slams Trump executive order on pre-existing conditions: It 'isn't worth the paper it's signed on' 3 reasons why Biden is misreading the politics of court packing Cruz blocks amended resolution honoring Ginsburg over language about her dying wish MORE (D-N.Y.), oppose his nomination.

But Democrats are unable to block Menashi’s nomination on their own. Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate, meaning Menashi would need to lose support from four GOP senators in order for his nomination to fail.

So far only one Republican, Sen. Susan Collins Susan Margaret CollinsDemocratic senator to party: 'A little message discipline wouldn't kill us' Poll: 57 percent of Americans think next president, Senate should fill Ginsburg vacancy On The Trail: Making sense of this week's polling tsunami MORE (Maine), has said she will oppose him.

"I oppose the nomination of Steven Menashi to be a United States Circuit Court Judge for the Second Circuit," Collins said in a statement. "Mr. Menashi's past writings, particularly about women, LGBTQ advocates, and diversity, raise questions about whether he has the appropriate judicial temperament."