Highlights from Senate vote to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson

Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., who was elected to the Senate last January in a special election, highlighted the impact of Georgia voters on Jackson's expected confirmation and thanked them from the Senate floor Thursday.

"The people of Georgia made this appointment possible by making history last year," said Warnock.

Because Supreme Court nominations require only a simple majority of 51 votes, Democrats taking control of Georgia's two Senate seats last year -- allowing them 50 seats and Vice President Kamala Harris as a tie-breaking vote -- was essential to Biden's ability to get a nominee confirmed.

Warnock said his office has received thousands of emails and phone calls from Georgians in every corner of the state voicing their support for Jackson's confirmation and echoing Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., said of Jackson's nomination: "Nobody's going to steal my joy."

"Yes, I'm a senator, I'm a pastor, but beyond all of that, I'm 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 in all of her excellence," he said. "For my five-year-old daughter and for so many young women in this country -- but, really, if we're thinking about it right, for all of us -- seeing Judge Jackson ascend to the Supreme Court reflects the promise of progress on which our democracy rests."

With limited debate ahead, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., took to the Senate floor to praise Jackson as one of the most qualified nominees he's ever considered in his 48 years in the Senate and scolded lawmakers for a process he said has been corroded with partisan politics.

"It's distressing, it's disheartening and as a dean of the Senate, it is saddening," Leahy said.

Leahy has participated in 21 Supreme Court confirmation processes, more than any other sitting senator.

"I've long lamented the increase in political gamesmanship packed in our current confirmation process. And many times on this floor I've warned about the dire consequences for our courts and for our democracy at converting our confirmation process into a zero-sum game where one party wins and one party loses," he said, noting that he's more than once voted for Republican judicial nominees.

"To change that game simply requires we have some adults in the room," he said. "We all come here for the United States not to score, headlines or trending tweets, but simply to do our jobs."

Turning back to Biden's nominee, Leahy said Jackson is "the justice we need now -- for the generations to come for our children or grandchildren. For all of us."

"History will remember the votes cast here today," he added.

The Senate has voted 53-47 to limit debate on Judge Jackson’s nomination to the Supreme Court, paving the way for a final confirmation vote later in the afternoon.

A beaming Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., who praised Jackson as "worthy" in an emotional soliloquy during her confirmation hearings, presided over the Senate chamber for the cloture vote.

Because the Senate filibuster rule for Supreme Court nominations was modified by Senate Republicans in 2017, Judge Jackson's nomination requires only a simple majority, or 51 senators, in both votes Thursday.

Since her formal nomination 42 days ago, Jackson held one-on-one meetings with 97 senators on Capitol Hill, according to the White House.

-ABC News' Devin Dwyer

Vice President Kamala Harris will head to the Capitol later Thursday to preside over the Senate for Judge Jackson's historic confirmation vote.

"This afternoon, with the United States Senate poised to make history by voting for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation to the United States Supreme Court, the Vice President will travel to the U.S. Capitol. The Vice President believes Judge Jackson will be an exceptional Supreme Court Justice, and she looks forward to presiding over the Senate to mark this important moment," the White House said in a statement.

Harris, the nation's first Black and first female vice president, will announce the final vote for Jackson, the first Black woman to be considered to the Supreme Court and, if confirmed, to sit on the high bench in its 233-year history.

Jackson is expected to watch final speeches and the roll call vote with her family in Washington.

-ABC News' Devin Dwyer