In perhaps the least suspenseful vote regarding a Supreme Court nominee in years, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson has officially been confirmed as the next Justice on the high court.
The final vote was 53-47, reflecting the procedural vote on Monday evening on the discharge petition (advancing the nomination to the Senate floor following the deadlock in the Senate Judiciary Committee). All 50 Democrats voted to confirm Judge Jackson. They were joined (again) by Republicans Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Susan Collins (Maine), and Mitt Romney (Utah) in that confirmation vote.
The announcement comes amidst recognition of the “historic” nature of the appointment, given that Jackson will become the first Black woman (just don’t ask her to define it) to serve on the Court.
BREAKING: The U.S. Senate confirms Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, securing her place as the first Black woman on the high court. https://t.co/d5KVZKv4iG
— The Associated Press (@AP) April 7, 2022
(Trivia note: She’ll actually be the third Jackson to serve: Howell Edmunds Jackson of Tennessee was appointed by President Benjamin Harrison and served from 1893 to 1895; Robert Houghwout Jackson of New York was appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and served from 1941 to 1954.)
Per the AP:
Jackson will be just the third Black justice, after Thurgood Marshall and Clarence Thomas, and the sixth woman. She will join three other women, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan Amy Coney Barrett – meaning that four of the nine justices will be women for the first time in history.
Justice Jackson will be seated once Justice Stephen Breyer retires this summer at the end of the current SCOTUS term. The court’s next term will begin in October.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member