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Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson officially has the support of enough US Senators for confirmation to the United States Supreme Court. Jackson will be the first Black woman ever to sit on the high Court’s bench. And her confirmation, it’s now clear, will be bi-partisan.
The news came as Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) announced he would vote in favor of confirming Jackson to the Court. Romney joins Republican Senators Murkowski (R-AK) and Collins (R-ME) in announcing their support. Romney’s announcement all but ensures Judge Jackson’s confirmation in a full Senate vote this month.
In a statement, Senator Romney said “while I do not expect to agree with every decision she may make on the Court, I believe that she more than meets the standard of excellence and integrity.”
His announcement came just moments after the Senate Judiciary Committee voted along party-lines to move Judge Jackson’s nomination forward. All eleven Democrats voted to advance her confirmation and all eleven Republicans voted against it. Per Senate rules, a tie vote still advances out of committee.
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson faced a difficult and sometimes brutal confirmation hearing. Several Republican Senators repeatedly attached Jackson’s record and character. Senators Blackburn, Lee, Hawley and Cruz in particular attempted to diminish her work and question her integrity.
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson rises above party politics, heads toward bi-partisan confirmation
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation will be first bi-partisan vote in favor of a nominee since Bret Kavanaugh in 2018. Back then, Democrat Joe Manchin (D-WV) joined in voting to confirm Kavanaugh, making him the deciding vote. Senator Lisa Murkowski voted against moving Kavanaugh’s vote forward after the allegations of sexual assault.
In addition to moving forward with Judge Jackson’s nomination, the committee also passed several other Biden Judicial nominees. One of the nominees, Judge Stephanie Davis, is a Black jurist who has been nominated by both Trump and Biden.
When former President Trump nominated Davis to become a federal judge, she was confirmed with a vote of 90-1. Tonight, however, many of the same Republicans who voted for her in 2019 opposed her nomination to the US Circuit Court today. Only Senators Blackburn (R-TN) and Graham (R-SC) voted to move Davis’s nomination forward.
If confirmed, Davis will also make history as only the second Black female judge on the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Her and Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s full Senate confirmation votes will likely take place in the coming weeks.