Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson has picked up at least one Republican vote for confirmation. Maine Sen. Susan Collins said in a lengthy statement released on Wednesday that, after meeting with Jackson twice in person, “I have concluded that she possesses the experience, qualifications, and integrity to serve as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court. I will, therefore, vote to confirm her to this position. ”
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Jackson has had united support from Democrats — including West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin — which would be enough for Senate confirmation, and the White House has made significant outreach to GOP senators it hoped could support the nominee in hopes of getting bipartisan backing.
What was Collins’ statement?
Collins was one of a few Republicans to support Jackson’s lower court nomination last year, and she criticized the partisan approach to Supreme Court nominations in her statement, “In my view, the role the Constitution clearly assigns to the Senate is to examine the experience, qualifications, and integrity of the nominee. It is not to assess whether a nominee reflects the ideology of an individual Senator or would rule exactly as an individual Senator would want.”
Manchin says he will support Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson
Jackson would be the court’s first Black female justice. Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin announced Friday that he will vote for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to be confirmed to the Supreme Court, clearing the way to an all-but-certain confirmation. The West Virginia Democrat has become a pivotal vote in the evenly divided Senate, as he often sides with Republicans, and his opposition could have blocked Jackson from becoming the first Black woman to sit on the bench.
What was Manchin’s statement?
“After meeting with her, considering her record, and closely monitoring her testimony and questioning before the Senate Judiciary Committee this week, I have determined I intend to vote for her nomination to serve on the Supreme Court,” Manchin said in a statement.
Manchin added that Jackson’s “wide array of experiences” in the judicial system provides her with a unique perspective that she will bring to the court. “I am confident Judge Jackson is supremely qualified and has the disposition necessary to serve as our nation’s next Supreme Court Justice,” he wrote.
Committee hearings for Jackson
Senate Judiciary Committee hearings for Jackson wrapped up Thursday after several days of intense questioning from Republican members who argued she was soft on sentencing child pornography defendants. Manchin’s announcement of support comes after the head of the Republican Party in the Senate, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, said on Thursday that he opposes Jackson’s confirmation. The Senate Judiciary Committee will meet in an executive session on Monday. Its vote to confirm Jackson could come as early as then or could get pushed to the following Monday, April 4. Democrats hope to confirm Jackson by the full Senate by Easter, April 17.
Why Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Nomination To US Supreme Court?
The United States President Joe Biden nominated Ketanji Brown Jackson to be the country’s 116th Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. Jackson would become the third Black person and the first Black woman to serve on the Highest Court if her nomination gets granted.
According to the New York Times, Biden stated, “For far too long, our administration and our courts haven’t looked like America.” “I feel it is past time for us to create a court that reflects our nation’s full potential and greatness.” Following the retirement of 83-year-old liberal judge Stephen Breyer, who was nominated to the court in 1994 while Bill Clinton was president and was known as the “champion of liberty and equality,” Biden announced his candidacy. Breyer’s nomination hearings were presided over by Biden personally at the time.
Jackson, like Breyer, was mentored by him while working as a law clerk under him, and she continued to work for the US Sentencing Commission. Biden pledged during his presidential campaign that his choice would be the court’s first Black woman, perhaps becoming one of the nine justices on the court, which now has twice as many conservative judges (6) as liberal justices.
Who is Ketanji Brown Jackson?
Jackson, 51, was a member of the prominent US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, from 2013 to June 2021. Three of the present justices on the Supreme Court formerly served on that bench. She previously worked as Breyer’s law clerk and as a public defender, representing clients who cannot afford an attorney. Jackson was born in Washington, D.C., and schooled in Miami. She attended and is a Harvard Law School alumnus.
She was appointed to be the Vice-Chairperson of the US Sentencing Commission by President Barack Obama, whose formation was approved by Biden when he was a member of the US Senate. She was commissioned as a Circuit Judge in June 2021, making her one of Biden’s first presidential nominations.”I started thinking about the law when I was pretty young,” Jackson said in a video published by Biden on Twitter. “My father went back to law school when I was a youngster.”
“I’ve spent my life appreciating lawyers and judges from all walks of life, but especially those who are African-Americans like myself who have worked really hard to get where they are,” she continued.
Donald Trump rails against SCOTUS nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson
Donald Trump has lashed out at Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson, criticizing her refusal to define the word ‘woman’ during Senate confirmation hearings. Speaking at a rally in Commerce, Georgia on Saturday night, Trump seized on the hot-button issue, which has generated controversy in the wake of transgender swimmer Lia Thomas’ NCAA title.
‘The left has become so extreme that we now have a justice being nominated to the Supreme Court who testified under oath that she could not say what a woman is,’ said Trump. Republicans have also focused on how Jackson judged a paedophile case.
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