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Staunch conservative judge Brett Kavanaugh has been sworn in as a US Supreme Court justice after a historic and divisive Senate vote.

In the final vote approving his nomination, which was disrupted repeatedly by protesters in the gallery, Mr Kavanaugh's selection was cleared by a narrow margin of 50-48.

His nomination for the supreme court by Donald Trump sparked a national rift after an academic came forward and accused him of sexual misconduct.

But the Senate victory gave the President his second appointee to the court, tilting it further to the right and pleasing conservative voters ahead of November's mid-term elections.

Mr Trump said on Twitter: "I applaud and congratulate the U.S. Senate for confirming our GREAT NOMINEE, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, to the United States Supreme Court.

"Later today, I will sign his Commission of Appointment, and he will be officially sworn in. Very exciting!"

Mr Kavanaugh yesterday cleared another narrow vote by 51-49 propelling him towards the position.

The Senate is controlled 51-49 by the Republicans and yesterday's vote was almost exactly on party lines, with just one defector on each side.

The embattled figure has denied allegations made against him by former Yale university alumni and academic Dr Christine Ford, who accused him of sexually assaulting her at a party in the early 1980s.

Mr Kavanaugh's position was assured after two senators came forward in support of him.

Republican Susan Collins of Maine and Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia announced they would back him .

Earlier today Donald Trump said the level of support for Mr Kavanaugh was "a beautiful thing to see."

He also denied people holding placards for Mr Kavanaugh were paid protesters.

The President wrote on Twitter: "Women for Kavanaugh, and many others who support this very good man, are gathering all over Capital Hill in preparation for a 3-5 P.M. VOTE. It is a beautiful thing to see - and they are not paid professional protesters who are handed expensive signs. Big day for America!"

President Trump had already decried people protesting against Mr Kavanaugh as "rude elevator screamers" and "paid professionals."

Melania Trump told reporters in Egypt: "I think he's highly qualified for the Supreme Court."

Democrats had been hugely opposed to Mr Kavanaugh's appointment.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York said there was one fundamental question for senators when they decide Mr Kavanaugh's fate: "Do we, as a country, value women?"

Mr Kavanaugh's nomination for the Supreme Court was divisive and had sparked mass protests.

Hundreds of women marched on Washington's Capitol Hill in protest at his nomination.

They were rounded up and arrested en masse. Among the protesters were celebrities Amy Schumer and Emily Ratajowski

Mr Kavanaugh was nominated by Donald Trump in July to replace justice Anthony Kennedy, who is retiring.

Chuck Schumer, the Senate's Democratic lkeader said ahead of yesterday's vote: "When future Americans look back at these proceedings, let them draw no lessons from the Senate’s conduct here.

"Let them look back on this chapter as the shameful culmination of the scorched-earth politics practiced by the hard right in America – people who will stop at nothing to entrench an advantage on our nation’s courts."

However the Republican majority leader Mitch McConnell dismissed the controversy over Mr Kavanaugh’s nomination as part of a campaign by Democrats and liberal activists.

He said: "Democrat members of the judiciary committee were racing to announce they’d made up their minds and were totally opposed to his confirmation."

Despite calls for a full FBI investigation, neither Kavanaugh nor Dr Ford were questioned by investigators.

On Friday night Dr Ford's lawyers said the FBI inquiry into her allegations was "not a meaningful investigation in any sense of the word."