All Senate Democrats and 3 Republicans advance Ketanji Brown Jackson's nomination, teeing up her final Supreme Court confirmation vote

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All Senate Democrats and 3 Republicans advance Ketanji Brown Jackson's nomination, teeing up her final Supreme Court confirmation vote
U.S. Supreme Court Nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson.Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
  • All 50 Democrats and 3 Republican senators advanced Ketanji Brown Jackson's Supreme Court nomination.
  • The Senate Judiciary Committee tied 11-11 on Jackson's nomination earlier Monday.
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All 50 Senate Democrats and three Senate Republicans on Monday evening advanced Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's nomination after the Senate Judiciary Committee deadlocked on a party-line vote.

The committee earlier Monday voted 11-11 on Jackson's nomination, with all Democrats on the panel voting in favor and all Republicans voting against. The tie forced Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to hold another vote to push Jackson's nomination forward, filing what's called a motion to "discharge" the committee.

Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Mitt Romney of Utah all voted for Jackson. Both Collins and Murkowski supported Jackson's confirmation last year to her current seat on the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit.

While Collins announced last week that she intends to vote in favor of Jackson's Supreme Court nomination, Murkowski and Romney made news on Monday evening indicating their support. Romney, a moderate Republican, was widely considered to be a swing vote for Jackson.

The GOP votes come as Democrats and the White House had been vying for a bipartisan confirmation for Jackson.

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Jackson remains on track for a final confirmation vote before the full Senate later this week. Democrats hope to approve Jackson to the nation's highest court before the Senate leaves on holiday recess for Easter.

Monday's extra procedural vote was widely expected as several Republicans on the Judiciary Committee, including Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Ted Cruz of Texas, and Josh Hawley of Missouri, previously announced they would oppose Jackson. Yet her nomination getting stuck in the committee underscores just how partisan the Supreme Court confirmation process has become in recent years.

During Jackson's confirmation hearings last month, the intense partisanship was on full display as Republicans grilled the 51-year-old judge while Democrats praised her. GOP senators aggressively questioned Jackson on her sentencing record as a federal district judge and on her judicial philosophy. Democrats, on the other hand, touted her historic nomination, her slew of endorsements from legal figures on the right and the left, and her extensive legal background.

President Joe Biden nominated Jackson roughly a month after Associate Justice Stephen Breyer announced his retirement in January. Breyer, a Bill Clinton appointee, will step down at the end of the Supreme Court's term this summer. If approved, Jackson will make history as the first Black woman on the Supreme Court. Her confirmation will not change the court's current 6-3 conservative majority.

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