WASHINGTON: The U.S. Senate confirmed Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court Thursday by a vote of 53-47, making her the first African-American female justice on the highest court in the country.
Vice President Kamala Harris presided over the historic moment, even though Democrats did not need her tie-breaking vote in the evenly divided Senate to confirm Jackson.
Three Republicans — Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Mitt Romney — all voted to approve the 51-year-old judge, only the third African American justice in the Supreme Court’s history.
In a four-day hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee last month, Democrats praised Jackson for her depth of experience, serving as a judge for nearly 10 years at the federal and appellate levels, and clerking for Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, who U.S. President Joe Biden nominated her to replace.
“She is a once-in-a-generation legal talent,” Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin said ahead of her confirmation vote Thursday.
“With Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation to the highest court in the land, we are not only making history, we are carrying on a great American tradition — elevating one of our nation’s best and brightest legal minds to an honored position of service. There’s no one more deserving of this high honor,” said Durbin.
“As we’ve learned over the past month, she is the best of us. She has devoted her life to serving our country. She’s done so at every level of the federal judiciary, and at every turn, she’s distinguished herself.”
(VOA)
Comment