Newsman; Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson became the first Black woman to be elevated to the Supreme Court . Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court in its 233-year history, was confirmed by the Senate on Thursday.
Ketanji Brown Jackson and President Biden watched the vote together in the Roosevelt Room at the White House.
President Joe Biden will deliver remarks today, the Friday at a ceremony marking the Senate’s historic confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson. Vice President Kamala Harris and Jackson will also speak at the event, scheduled to take place at 12:15 p.m. EDT on the South Lawn of the White House, according to the White House.
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson got three Republican votes, marking a bipartisan victory for President Joe Biden and his high court nominee.
The final vote was 53-47, with all 50 Democratic caucus members supporting Jackson, joined by Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine; Lisa Murkowski of Alaska; and Mitt Romney of Utah. In a symbolic moment, Vice President Kamala Harris, the first Black woman elected to her job, presided over the vote.
Vice President Harris says Jackson’s confirmation sends message of ‘who we are as a nation’
After presiding over the Senate chamber the historic vote, Vice President Kamala Harris told reporters she is “overjoyed and deeply moved” at Judge Jackson’s successful confirmation to the Supreme Court.
“There’s so much about what’s happening in the world now that is presenting some of the worst of this moment and human behaviors — and then we have a moment like this that, I think, reminds us that there is still so much yet to accomplish and that we can accomplish,” she said
Jackson previously served as a U.S. district court judge, appointed by President Barack Obama in 2013. Before that she served on the U.S. Sentencing Commission and as a public defender.
The NAACP celebrated the vote, praising Jackson for overcoming “racist attacks” during the confirmation process.
“Today’s vote to confirm Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court is of enormous consequence to our nation and to history. After weeks and weeks of racist, misogynistic and stomach-churning attacks, we cannot wait to finally call her Justice Jackson,” NAACP President Derrick Johnson said in a statement.
Ketanji Brown Jackson will take office at the end of the court’s current term — likely in June or July — when Justice Stephen Breyer is expected to step down. Her appointment would not disrupt the current 6-3 conservative balance on the Supreme Court.
“This is a wonderful day, a joyous day, an inspiring day for the Senate, for the Supreme Court and for the United States of America,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Thursday, calling Jackson “brilliant,” “beloved,” and saying she “belongs” on the Supreme Court.
“This is one of the great moments of American history,” he said.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., unsuccessfully fought to scuttle Jackson’s nomination in recent weeks.
“These days, the Senate takes an assertive role. In particular, most senators do not merely check résumés and basic legal qualifications but also look into judicial philosophy,” he said Wednesday.
Before the vote Thursday, McConnell faulted Jackson for not denouncing “the insane concept of court packing” during her confirmation hearing. (Jackson had declined to answers about court packing, saying the size of the court is a decision for Congress and not judges.
“This is a tremendously historic day in the White House and in the country, and this is a fulfillment of a promise the president made to the country,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said shortly after the vote.
Biden vowed to nominate the nation’s first African American Supreme Court justice during the 2020 presidential campaign, eventually choosing the 51-year-old Jackson over two other candidates he interviewed. He nominated Jackson on Feb. 25, setting off a quick seven-week confirmation process.
