Brett Kavanaugh fight leaves a nation divided: Balance of power extra

Kavanaugh's nomination was almost derailed three weeks ago when California professor Ford accused him of trying to rape at a 1982 party

A bitter partisan battle that gripped the US ended yesterday with the Senate’s 50-48 vote – the narrowest margin in 130 years – to confirm Brett Kavanaugh as a Supreme Court justice.
 
But the repercussions for next month’s congressional midterm elections, the ideological bent of the high court and the treatment of sexual-assault victims will reverberate for decades to come.
 
US President Donald Trump and Republicans – convinced the fight has bolstered their efforts to halt a Democratic Party surge in the vote to control Congress – reveled in a victory that will cement a conservative majority on