Highlights from Senate vote to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson

Both party leaders spoke ahead of Judge Jackson's confirmation vote, with Vice President Kamala Harris, as president of the Senate, presiding over the chamber for the historic occasion.

Republican leader Mitch McConnell said he "applaud[ed]" Republicans for handling Jackson's confirmation with the seriousness it deserves," a characterization rejected b Democrats.

Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, meanwhile, celebrated the historic nature of the nomination.

"In our nation's history, 115 individuals have been confirmed by this body to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States. Of those, 108 have been white men, only 4 have been women, only 2 have been African American," Schumer said. "But Ketanji Brown Jackson will be the first African American woman ever to hold the title of Justice. Think about the impact that will have on our democracy."

"This is one of the great moments of American history," Schumer said. "This is a great moment for Judge Jackson but it is an even greater moment for America as we rise to a more perfect union."

Vice President Kamala Harris, presiding over the Senate chamber, called for a roll call vote for Judge Jackson’s Senate confirmation.

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

As the confirmation vote nears, Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who presided over Jackson's confirmation hearings, called her ascension to the high court "a glass shattering achievement for America."

"Today, the members of this Senate have the opportunity to take a monumental step forward. We will vote to confirm a once in a generation legal talent, a jurist with outstanding credentials and a lifetime of experience and the first-ever African American woman to serve as Justice of the Supreme Court," Durbin said.

Durbin briefly walked the Senate through some of the struggles African Americans and women have faced in this country, asking senators to consider that when the Supreme Court first met in the Capitol building in February of 1801, there were one million slaves in a nation of five million people.

"Women had no place in that first Supreme Court chamber, and Black women would only enter to clean it in the dark of night," he said. "We know what followed. Americans battled in slavery, saw a bloody civil war, decades of efforts to break down racial barriers -- and the efforts continue to this day."

But with Jackson's nomination, Durbin said millions of Americans will see themselves represented in her.

"This confirmation of the first Black woman to the Supreme Court honors the history that has come before it It honors the struggles of the past of the men and women who waged them. And this confirmation draws America one step closer one step to healing our nation," he said.

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."