Republicans emerged from a closed-door caucus meeting on Thursday night saying they will move forward Friday with a committee vote on Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination.

The vote will come a day after dramatic testimony from the nominee and Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused him of sexual assault.

Several Republicans, including GOP Sen. John Cornyn John CornynQuinnipiac polls show Trump leading Biden in Texas, deadlocked race in Ohio The Hill's Campaign Report: GOP set to ask SCOTUS to limit mail-in voting Liberal super PAC launches ads targeting vulnerable GOP senators over SCOTUS fight MORE (Texas), said the plan is for the Judiciary Committee to hold a vote on Friday, which would pave the way for a vote to end debate in the full Senate on Monday and a final vote on his nomination Tuesday.

"I'm optimistic, yeah. I don't see any reason why he wouldn't be voted out positively," Cornyn told reporters as he left the Capitol for the night.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellTrump 'no longer angry' at Romney because of Supreme Court stance On The Money: Anxious Democrats push for vote on COVID-19 aid | Pelosi, Mnuchin ready to restart talks | Weekly jobless claims increase | Senate treads close to shutdown deadline The Hill's Campaign Report: Trump faces backlash after not committing to peaceful transition of power MORE (R-Ky.) told reporters that the committee would vote Friday and said Republicans were "very optimistic we're going to succeed."

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The one vote on Judiciary in question is Sen. Jeff Flake Jeffrey (Jeff) Lane FlakeHow fast population growth made Arizona a swing state Jeff Flake: Republicans 'should hold the same position' on SCOTUS vacancy as 2016 Republican former Michigan governor says he's voting for Biden MORE (R-Ariz.), who has feuded with President Trump Donald John TrumpSteele Dossier sub-source was subject of FBI counterintelligence probe Pelosi slams Trump executive order on pre-existing conditions: It 'isn't worth the paper it's signed on' Trump 'no longer angry' at Romney because of Supreme Court stance MORE and in a floor speech this week criticized both sides on the Kavanaugh matter. He is officially undecided on Kavanaugh.

Flake is officially undecided on Kavanaugh and gave few hints during the hours-long Thursday hearing about which way he was leaning.



He told reporters after the closed-door meeting that he remained undecided and wanted to think on the decision over Thursday night, setting up a potentially dramatic moment at the Judiciary Committee vote on Friday.



"It's a tough one," he said of Kavanaugh's nomination, adding that he is still "chasing down a few things."

"They both did well. He offered a defense like you would expect from someone who felt they were wrongly accused and you know, she offered compelling testimony as well," Flake added.

If Flake votes "yes" on Kavanaugh, that would allow Republicans to favorably vote him out of the Judiciary Committee. If he sides with every Democrat on the panel—none of whom are expected to vote for Trump's nominee—Republicans would need to look at other procedural options to get him to the Senate floor.

Republicans are moving forward even as they acknowledged after the roughly hour-long meeting that its was unclear if they had the votes to ultimately get Kavanaugh confirmed or even reported favorably out of the Judiciary Committee.

Bob Corker Robert (Bob) Phillips CorkerHas Congress captured Russia policy? Tennessee primary battle turns nasty for Republicans Cheney clashes with Trump MORE



“There is no question that Judge Kavanaugh is qualified to serve on the Supreme Court, and in a different political environment, he would be confirmed overwhelmingly," Corker said. “I believe Judge Kavanaugh has conducted himself as well as anyone could expect throughout this process and plan to vote to confirm him.” They got a boost after the meeting when Sen.(R-Tenn.), who had been undecided but favorable of Kavanaugh, formally announced that he would vote yes.“There is no question that Judge Kavanaugh is qualified to serve on the Supreme Court, and in a different political environment, he would be confirmed overwhelmingly," Corker said. “I believe Judge Kavanaugh has conducted himself as well as anyone could expect throughout this process and plan to vote to confirm him.”



McConnell called the caucus meeting so the caucus could discus the floor and vote schedule after the hearing, a spokesman told The Hill earlier Thursday.



Rachel Mitchell, the outside counsel, joined senators for most of the meeting to discuss her impression of the hearing and the facts established during the hours-long process.



"We just talked about the hearing and gave opportunities for other members to ask questions who weren't on the committee," Tillis added of the closed-door meeting.



Murkowski didn't indicate to reporters as she left the meeting if she had made a decision.



"I am going to go home, have some dinner and have a chance to think about all that's gone on," she told reporters, asked how was feeling about the hearing.

Because Republicans hold a narrow 51-seat majority they can only afford to lose one GOP senator and still confirm Kavanaugh without help from Democrats.