Good Friday morning. I'm Jake Sherman and welcome to your political playbook audio briefing, sponsored by Pharma.

And I'm Anna Palmer. We're kicking off the morning with a look at the mood in the Capitol.

As Brett Kavanaugh's nomination appears to be inching toward the finish line, the Capitol has become flooded with protesters,

hearkening back to 2010 when the right loudly opposed the passage of the Affordable

Care Act. Three hundred and two people were arrested on Capitol Hill yesterday for quote-unquote

unlawfully demonstrating in Senate office buildings. Capital police were walking around with zip ties

in their back pockets, checking staffers badges multiple times when walking through

the Capitol complex. When we went to get a coffee in cups in the Russell office building,

we were greeted by a group of protesters who wanted to know we worked for a senator,

presumably looking to try to change a vote. Several rank-in-file senators have full-time police

escorts, an unusual dynamic in a

building where elected officials usually roam free. It's something reporters hope doesn't stick.

The critical procedural vote to end debate will be this morning at 10.30 a.m. Burgess Everett

and Alana Shore have all the details in the Politico lead-all, writing that Republican leaders all but guaranteed Kavanaugh's confirmation yesterday, as both Senators Jeff Flake and Susan Collins gave encouraging remarks about the FBI's report.

One important detail, the vote could drag into Sunday if Republican leaders need Steve Daines of Montana.

Dane supports Kavanaugh, but is attending

his daughter's wedding in Montana on Saturday. That will only matter if Friday's procedural

vote is tied. Our colleague Alex Eisenstadt tweeted that the NRC has begun canceling at least

some of its ad reservations in North Dakota after Heidi Hightamp said she would vote against Kavanaugh.

While things seemed to go well for Kavanaugh and the Capitol yesterday,

retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens said Kavanaugh's performance during the

hearing had caused him to change his mind because he had demonstrated a potential bias

...