Highlights from Senate vote to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson

The Senate voted 53-47 in a bipartisan vote on Jackson's nomination.

Last Updated: April 7, 2022, 5:29 PM EDT

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court in its 233-year history, was confirmed by the Senate in a 53-47 vote Thursday.

She got three Republican votes, marking a bipartisan victory for President Joe Biden and his high court nominee.

Apr 07, 2022, 11:04 AM EDT

Schumer praises Jackson's place in history ahead of key vote

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the vote to end debate on Judge Jackson's nomination is on track for the 11 a.m. hour ahead of the historic confirmation vote around 1:45 p.m.

"The Senate gavels in this morning for a joyous, momentous, groundbreaking day," Schumer said from the Senate chamber. "This morning, we will vote to end debate on the nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to be a justice on the United States Supreme Court. And later this afternoon, the Senate will fulfill its constitutional duty to finally confirm this remarkable and groundbreaking jurist."

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer speaks at a news conference following the weekly Senate Democratic policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol Building on April 5, 2022 in Washington, D.C.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Schumer praised Jackson as encapsulating the "three Bs" -- brilliant, beloved and belonging on the Supreme Court -- and said the nation is long overdue to have a Black woman sit on the high bench.

"In the 233-year history of the Supreme Court never, never has a Black woman held the title of justice. Ketanji Brown Jackson will be the first, and I believe the first of more to come," Schumer said.

"This milestone should have happened generations ago," he added, "but we are always trotting on a path towards a more perfect union."

"Nevertheless, America today is taking a giant step towards making our union more perfect. People sometimes talk about standing on the shoulder of giants. Well, Judge Jackson will go down in history as an American giant upon whose shoulders others will stand tall -- and our democracy will be better off for it."

Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson gets a kiss from her husband Dr. Patrick Jackson, at the conclusion of her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill, March 23, 2022.
Susan Walsh/AP

Mar 24, 2022, 1:13 PM EDT

Hearings adjourn, Jackson on track for full Senate vote before Easter

The Senate Judiciary Committee has adjourned after four days of Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Judge Jackson, Biden’s first high court nominee and the first Black woman in history considered for the position by the Senate.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer confirmed earlier Thursday that her nomination is still on track for final consideration in the Senate before Easter.

"Once the committee concludes its work, I will move to have her nomination come to the floor in short order,” Schumer said. "There is not a shred of doubt in my mind she merits confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court.”

While the White House had hoped the hearings would get Republicans on board to help confirm her, it’s still unclear if any will vote for Jackson, who is back on Capitol Hill Thursday to try to win more support.

In a sign that will be an uphill battle, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said in his floor remarks that Jackson continued to "deflect" questions on her judicial philosophy and on court-packing and argued that she put senators through an "endless circle of evasion.”

Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said the committee will consider her nomination on March 28, putting the committee vote on track for April 4 and allowing Democrats to meet their goal of a full Senate confirmation vote on Jackson by April 8 -- when the Senate goes on recess.

-ABC News' Allison Pecorin

Mar 24, 2022, 12:42 PM EDT

Democrats reject GOP demands to see pre-sentencing reports

All Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee, excluding Sen. Ben Sasse, have continued to rail against Chairman Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., to allow them to see several pre-sentencing reports in child pornography cases Judge Jackson handled, claiming they can't evaluate her judicial record without them.

Because pre-trial sentencing reports are kept confidential to protect victims' privacy, Durbin has rejected the request which he called "reckless."

"No one wants to harm children," said Sen. Marsha Blackburn. R-Tenn., to which Durbin interrupted, “Then leave the reports concealed.”

Committee Chairman Dick Durbin listens to witness testimony during the final day of a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson on Capitol Hill, March 24, 2022.
Ken Cedeno/UPI/Shutterstock

“If you are a parent of some child who has been exploited, and you recognize this judge's name is perhaps presented at the trial, and realize that now the report that has been kept in confidence, all these years is not going to be handed over to the United States Senate Judiciary Committee, what would you think as a mother?” Durbin said.

Durbin noted that it's information the Senate Judiciary Committee has never requested.

Mar 24, 2022, 11:15 AM EDT

Congressional Black Caucus chair says Jackson's confirmation will send the right message

In a passionate opening statement, Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, lauded Judge Jackson’s record before the Senate Judiciary Committee and slammed what she called "unfair attacks" by Republicans -- though several GOP members on the committee weren't present to hear it.

"These bad-faith efforts exist despite a resume that arguably surpasses those of previous nominees," said Beatty, who was called as a witness by the committee's Democratic majority.

Beatty praised the history-making moment that would be Jackson’s confirmation and said Jackson "will be a judge that will serve all of America and all of America can be proud of."

"Judge Jackson's confirmation will send a message to Black women and little girls like my granddaughter Leah, whose mother is the first black woman to serve on the Tenth [Circuit] Court of Appeals, and Leah's first known president was the Black man and now she sees a Black female vice president," she said. "So if the guidance counselor tells her, ‘Your Goals are too high,’ she will remember how Judge Jackson soared against adversity as one of our nation's brightest legal minds."

Beatty also noted that Jackson was confirmed to a lifetime judicial appointment by the Senate on a bipartisan basis last year and that she clerked for Justice Stephen Breyer, who she’d be replacing, which she said wouldn't change the court’s ideological makeup.

Related Topics

Sponsored Content by Taboola