(CNN) —In a historic vote, the US Senate has confirmed Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, President Joe Biden’s nominee, to serve on the Supreme Court. She will be the first black woman to reach the highest court in the country.
The final confirmation vote only required a simple majority. The results were 53-47 with Republicans Susan Collins, Mitt Romney and Lisa Murkowski joining Democrats in favor.
Vice President Kamala Harris, the first black woman to hold that position, presided over the historic vote. Additionally, Biden and Jackson watched the Senate vote from the Roosevelt Room in the White House.
The nomination cleared a key hurdle earlier Thursday when the Senate held a procedural vote to limit debate and break a filibuster.
Despite receiving the endorsement of the Senate, Jackson will not take office immediately. Precisely, he will have to wait until Judge Stephen Breyer retires to take the oath. In his letter to President Joe Biden last January, Breyer said his retirement will be effective at the end of the current Supreme Court term, assuming his successor is confirmed. The term is expected to end sometime in late June or early July.
The balance on the Supreme Court after Jackson’s confirmation
Now Jackson’s confirmation does not change the ideological balance of the court. Currently, the highest court has six conservative justices and three liberal justices, and the retiring justice, Stephen Breyer, hails from the liberal camp. But the confirmation marks an important historical milestone for the Supreme Court and the federal judiciary.
The White House and Senate Democrats have highlighted the historic nature of this appointment.
Before the final vote, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called the moment a “joyful, momentous and groundbreaking day.”
“The Senate will fulfill its constitutional duty to finally confirm this remarkable and innovative jurist,” he said.
Schumer continued: “In the 233-year history of the Supreme Court, never, ever has a black woman held the title of justice. Ketanji Brown Jackson will be the first and I believe the first of many to come.”
A win for the Democrats
Confirmation represents a victory for Democrats, which they can tout as bipartisan, and a way for the president to deliver on a campaign promise at a time when the party faces a host of challenges at home and abroad. Among them, the vertiginous inflation and the crisis in Ukraine.
Biden had said during his 2020 presidential campaign that he was committed to nominating a black woman to the Supreme Court if elected.
“If I am elected president and I have the opportunity to appoint someone to the courts, I will appoint the first black woman to the court. They are required to have representation now, a long time ago,” Biden said in March 2020.
At one point during her Senate confirmation hearings, Jackson became visibly emotional and could be seen wiping away tears as Democratic Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, who is one of only three black senators, spoke about his path to victory. nomination and the obstacles he has had to overcome.
“My parents grew up in a time in this country where black and white kids weren’t allowed to go to school together,” Jackson told Booker after the senator asked what values her parents had instilled in her. “They taught me to work hard. They taught me to have perseverance. They taught me that anything is possible in this great country.”
What happened during commit
The Senate chamber was packed for the vote, with most senators at their desks for the historic moment.
Because of that, the vote moved quickly at first, but then it was held open for some time when it became clear that Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky was the only one who hadn’t voted. The chamber waited for him to arrive and vote before it closed.
As the camera waited for Paul, lawmakers and people in the gallery grew restless. Several Democratic senators began conversations with some members of the Black Legislative Caucus in Congress who were in the House to observe the vote.
Republican Senators Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma voted from the Republican wardrobe because they did not wear ties, as required by Senate floor rules.
Judge Confirmation Process
Throughout the Senate inquiry process, Democrats praised Jackson as an exceptionally qualified innovative candidate whose depth and breadth of experience, including as a federal public defender, would add a valuable and unique perspective to the court.
Jackson was also a member of the US Sentencing Commission and served on the federal district court in Washington, appointed by former President Barack Obama, before Biden elevated her to the Washington Circuit in 2021.
The confirmation hearings included sharp and critical questions from Republicans, as many tried to portray Jackson as weak on crime and, in a highly charged line of attack, too lenient in sentencing child pornography cases. Jackson and the Democrats strongly rejected the allegations.
Jackson emphasized her concern for public safety and the rule of law, as a judge and as an American. And she argued that she approaches her work impartially and that personal opinions do not play a role.
Republicans called for civility and respect during confirmation hearings, arguing that Democrats did not extend that to Brett Kavanaugh during his Senate investigation process. Kavanaugh faced a sexual assault allegation, which he vehemently denied.
Democrats, however, argued that Republicans crossed a line by distorting Jackson’s record, particularly with regard to sentencing in cases involving child pornography.
A CNN review of the material in question shows that Jackson for the most part followed common court sentencing practices in these types of cases.
Jackson gains the support of the Republican Party
In announcing that they would support the nomination, Murkowski and Collins expressed concern about what they described as the politicization of the Supreme Court confirmation process.
Murkowski said he rejects “the corrosive politicization of the Supreme Court nominee review process, which, on both sides of the aisle, gets worse every year and further from reality” in his statement.
Collins said in his statement: “No matter where you are on the ideological spectrum, anyone who has watched several of the recent Supreme Court confirmation hearings will come to the conclusion that the process is broken.”
“It was common for senators to give the president, regardless of political party, considerable deference in choosing a candidate,” Collins said.
The Maine Republican said that approach “instilled confidence in the independence and integrity of the judiciary and helped keep the Court above the political fray,” adding, “This is the approach I plan to continue to use for nominations.” to the Supreme Court because it runs counter to a worrying trend of politicizing the judicial nomination process.
— CNN’s Maegan Vazquez and Tierney Sneed contributed to this report.