Brett Kavanaugh has been sworn in as US Supreme Court justice, following the closest such Senate vote in more than a century, marking a major win for President Donald Trump's drive to move the country's political institutions to the right.
The months-long battle over the nomination of Mr Kavanaugh, who has weathered accusations of sexual assault, has roiled Americans' passions - and placed President Donald Trump at the threshold of one of the biggest victories of his presidency.
Retired Justice Anthony M. Kennedy administers the Judicial Oath to Judge Brett Kavanaugh in the Justices' Conference Room of the Supreme Court Building. Source: AP
The Senate confirmed Mr Kavanaugh by a narrow margin of 50-48.
The vote brings an end to a raucous nomination process defined by harrowing testimony from a woman who says Mr Kavanaugh tried to rape her when they were teenagers - and by his fiery rebuttal.
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Source: AAP
But the Mr Kavanaugh spectacle, fueled by extraordinary accusations and counter-claims in nationally televised hearings, and tense battles over an 11th-hour FBI investigation to address the assault allegations, has inflamed political passions.
As Chief Justice John Roberts swore in Mr Kavanaugh during a private Supreme Court ceremony, protesters demonstrated loudly outside, at one point rushing the steps of the court and banging on its ornate bronze doors while some sat on a Lady Justice statue.
The confirmation means Mr Trump has succeeded in having his two picks seated on the court - tilting it decidedly to the right in a major coup for the Republican leader less than halfway through his term.
During an evening rally in Topeka, Kansas, Mr Trump was greeted by prolonged cheers on what he called a "truly historic night."
President Donald Trump, on board Air Force One, pauses while watching a live television broadcast of the Senate confirmation vote of his Supreme Court nominee. Source: AP
"I stand before you today on the heels of a tremendous victory for our nation, our people and our beloved Constitution," he told supporters after signing Mr Kavanaugh's commission aboard Air Force One.
A separate, public swearing-in ceremony is planned for Monday night in the White House's East Room.
'Shame!'
Hours before the vote, more than 1,000 protesters, mostly women, broke through barricades and staged a raucous sit-in protest on the US Capitol steps, just feet away from the imposing doors to the Rotunda.
As protesters chanted "Shame!" and "November is coming!" police took several dozen protesters down the steps and put them in plastic flex-cuffs.
Protestors storm the East Front steps of the US Capitol before the US Senate votes on the confirmation. Source: AP
Mr Kavanaugh's confirmation process has laid bare the partisan gridlock on Capitol Hill and the political polarization of America just a month before midterm elections.
His promotion to the Supreme Court will also stand as a demoralising defeat for Democrats who battled hard to block the 53-year-old judge at all costs.
But Senator Ed Markey insisted the drama playing out will only galvanize Democrats to deliver a "devastating" blow to Republicans at the ballot box.
Police arrest protesters. Source: AP
"The Democrats are going to pivot to the election, and we're going to turn this nomination into a referendum on whether or not Donald Trump can be trusted to name federal judges or to continue to control an absolute monopoly on creating public policy in the United States," Senator Markey told reporters.
Mr Kavanaugh's confirmation was all but sealed Friday when he won the support of key Senate Republican Susan Collins and conservative Democrat Joe Manchin.
Senator Collins arrives for the crucial vote. Source: AP
Their announcements brought the number of senators supporting Kavanaugh to 51 in the 100-member chamber.
"This is a great day for America," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told Fox News late Friday, congratulating his colleagues for "refusing to roll over under all of this intense pressure."
'Presumption of innocence'
Mr Kavanaugh's nomination as a replacement for retiring justice Anthony Kennedy was controversial from the start - but the initial focus was solely on the conservative views held by the married father of two.
His ascent to the Supreme Court was thrown into doubt last week after university research psychologist Christine Blasey Ford testified that he had sexually assaulted her at a Washington area party in the early 1980s.
The brutal hearing sparked a supplemental FBI dive into Mr Kavanaugh's background and a week-long delay of the Senate vote.
While many senators say they were satisfied with the FBI probe, her lawyers say the investigation was insufficient.
"An FBI investigation that did not include interviews of Dr. Ford and Judge Kavanaugh is not a meaningful investigation in any sense of the word," they said in a statement quoted in US media.
Senator Collins - a moderate Republican from Maine - said Mr Kavanaugh was entitled to the "presumption of innocence" as the allegations against him were not substantiated with corroborating evidence.
While acknowledging that Ms Blasey Ford's testimony was "sincere, painful and compelling," he added: "We will be ill-served in the long run if we abandon the presumption of innocence and fairness."
Immediately after that speech, Senator Manchin announced his support, calling Mr Kavanaugh a "qualified jurist" who "will not allow the partisan nature this process took to follow him onto the court."
Senator Manchin faces extraordinary political pressure. He is up for re-election in West Virginia, a state Trump won overwhelmingly in 2016.
Christine Blasey Ford testifies at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018 on Capitol Hill. Source: Christine Blasey Ford testifies at the hearing (AAP)
The stage was set for Saturday's final confirmation when the Senate ended debate on the nomination on Friday with a procedural 51-49 vote - a move cheered by Mr Trump, who said he was "very proud."
'Agonizing'
If he wins confirmation, Mr Kavanaugh -- who saw questions raised over his candor, partisan rhetoric and lifestyle as a young man -- will seal a conservative majority on the nine-seat high court, possibly for decades to come.
His nomination has been met with loud protests, both in Washington and in other cities across the United States. Hundreds have been arrested on Capitol Hill this week.
Authorities took the rare step of putting up low metal fences around the Capitol, keeping the public some distance from the building. But protesters overran the barricades and defiantly claimed the Capitol steps.
Mr Trump tweeted that the demonstrators included female Mr Kavanaugh supporters who were "gathering all over Capitol Hill." But they were not immediately visible in the area around the legislature.
The president claimed on Friday that billionaire financier George Soros, a Democratic funder and frequent target of conservatives, was behind the demonstrations against his nominee.
Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski was the only Republican to break ranks in Friday's cloture vote.
