Political | Process

The vote caps a weeks-long push by Senate Democrats to get Jackson through sometimes contentious confirmation hearings. President Joe Biden nominated Jackson to the Supreme Court in February, calling her a “proven consensus builder” with a distinguished resume as both an attorney and a jurist.

Jackson will be only the third Black justice in the court’s 233-year history. When she joins the court, it’ll also be the first time that two African American justices are on the bench at the same time, as well as the first time four women serve  simultaneously.  

Jackson, 51, joined Biden at the White House to watch the vote unfold in the Roosevelt Room of the executive mansion. She will be sworn in to replace retiring Justice Stephen Breyer and will join the Supreme Court at the start of its next term in October.

The judge’s confirmation does not alter the current ideological composition of the court, which currently has six conservatives and three liberals, including Breyer.

Biden announced the nomination of Jackson in February, after vowing during the 2020 presidential campaign to pick a black woman for the high court.

Jackson’s confirmation comes three days after the Senate Judiciary Committee deadlocked 11-11 on her nomination, the panel’s first tie vote on a Supreme Court nominee since Clarence Thomas in 1991.

With only 51 votes needed and Harris waiting to break any ties if necessary, Jackson’s confirmation had always been seen as likely. Moderate Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia virtually ensured it would happen when he announced March 25 that he would support Jackson for the high court. Collins’ announcement last week that she would vote to confirm Jackson ensured bipartisan support for the nominee.