Ketanji Brown Jackson was confirmed by the Senate\u00a0 as the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court in a milestone for the United States and a victory for President Joe Biden, who made good on a campaign promise as he seeks to infuse the federal judiciary with a broader range of backgrounds.<\/p>\n
The vote to confirm the 51-year-old federal appellate judge to a lifetime job on the nation\u2019s top judicial body was 53-47, with three Republicans \u2013 Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Mitt Romney \u2013 joining Biden\u2019s fellow Democrats.<\/p>\n
A simple majority was needed, as Jackson overcame Republican opposition in a Supreme Court confirmation process that remains fiercely partisan.<\/p>\n
Jackson will take the 83-year-old Breyer\u2019s place on the liberal bloc of a court with an increasingly assertive 6-3 conservative majority. Breyer is due to serve until the court\u2019s current term ends \u2013 usually in late June \u2013 and Jackson would be formally sworn in after that. Jackson served early in her career as a Supreme Court clerk for Breyer.<\/p>\n
Biden hosted Jackson at the White House to watch the vote on television, posting on Twitter a selfie he took of them smiling after Senate acted.<\/p>\n
” Judge Jackson\u2019s confirmation was a historic moment for our nation. We\u2019ve taken another step toward making our highest court reflect the diversity of America. She will be an incredible Justice, and I was honored to share this moment with her,\u201d Biden wrote on Twitter.<\/p>\n
The two will make remarks on Friday at an event celebrating her confirmation.<\/p>\n
Of the 115 people who have served on the Supreme Court since its 1789 founding, all but three have been white. It has had two Black justices, both men: Clarence Thomas, appointed in 1991 and still serving, and Thurgood Marshall, who retired in 1991 and died in 1993. Current Justice Sonia Sotomayor is the only Hispanic ever to serve.<\/p>\n
Jackson will become the sixth woman justice ever. For the first time, four women will serve on the court together.<\/p>\n
Presidential nominations to the Supreme Court have become a flashpoint in American politics. The court wields great influence in shaping American policy on hot-button issues including abortion, guns, voting laws, LGBT rights, religious liberty, the death penalty and race-based practices.<\/p>\n
Before Jackson joins it, the Supreme Court is due to rule in major cases including one that could overturn the landmark 1973 decision that legalized abortion nationwide and another that could expand gun rights.<\/p>\n
Democrat Raphael Warnock, one of the Senate\u2019s three Black members, said in the debate before the vote: \u201cI\u2019m the father of a young Black girl. I know how much it means for Judge Jackson to have navigated the double jeopardy of racism and sexism to now stand in the glory of this moment. \u2026 Seeing Judge Jackson ascend to the Supreme Court reflects the promise of progress on which our democracy rests. What a great day it is in America.\u201d<\/p>\n
Biden appointed Jackson last year to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit after she spent eight years as a federal district judge. Like the three conservative justices appointed by Biden\u2019s Republican predecessor Donald Trump, Jackson is young enough to serve for decades in the lifetime job.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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