Republican Sen. Ben Sasse drops a bombshell on the debate over Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court

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Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska.

• Republican Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska gave an impassioned speech on sexual assault and the #MeToo movement on the Senate floor Wednesday night.
• Sasse also dropped a bombshell about where he stands on Brett Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump's second nominee to the Supreme Court.
• "I urged the president to nominate a different individual. I urged the president to nominate a woman," Sasse said.
• He recounted the experiences of two personal friends he said were raped, adding that the #MeToo movement has been "complicated," but also a "very good thing."
• Then Sasse turned back to Trump: "We all know that the president cannot lead us through this time."

Republican Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska gave an impassioned speech on sexual assault and the #MeToo movement on the Senate floor Wednesday night.

Sasse also dropped a bombshell about where he stands on Brett Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump's second nominee to the Supreme Court.

"I urged the president to nominate a different individual. I urged the president to nominate a woman," Sasse said.

He recounted the experiences of two personal friends he said were raped, adding that the #MeToo movement has been "complicated," but also a "very good thing."

And then Sasse turned back to Trump: "We all know that the president cannot lead us through this time."

Kavanaugh, once seen as having a clear path to the nation's high court, has become the subject of multiple sexual misconduct allegations, leveled against him by former high school and college classmates.

The most notable of those classmates is Christine Blasey Ford, a California university professor who accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her while the two were high school students in the 1980s.

New questions about Kavanaugh's drinking habits have also emerged in recent days, and with that, more of Kavanaugh's former classmates came forward, publicly casting doubt on Kavanaugh's characterizations about his relationship to alcohol.

These developments have emerged amid a renewed FBI investigation of Kavanaugh's background, which was expected to wrap up imminently.

Kavanaugh has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. Most Republican leaders, including Sen. Mitch McConnell, have accused Democrats of trying to railroad him.

McConnell on Wednesday night set up a key procedural vote on Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court.