Bill Clark Cq-roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images Republican Sen. Susan Collins has said she will vote for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to run for the U.S. Supreme Court, giving bipartisan support to President Joe Biden’s first candidate for the Supreme Court. Jackson is now guaranteed to become the first black woman to serve as a Supreme Court justice. “After reviewing the extensive record of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, monitoring much of her testimony and meeting with her twice in person, I have come to the conclusion that she has the experience, qualifications and integrity to serve as an Associate Justice in the Supreme Court. Court”. Collins said in a statement Wednesday. “Therefore, I will vote to confirm it in this position,” said the central senator from Maine. After coming out of a grueling week of affirmative hearings with few scars, the 51-year-old federal judge was expected to be confirmed even if no Republican in the equally divided Senate voted for her. But Collins’ announcement, coupled with the expected unanimous support from Senate Democrats, likely eliminates the need for Vice President Kamala Harris to vote for a tie to confirm Jackson. Two other moderate Republican senators, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Mitt Romney of Utah, have not yet revealed how they intend to vote for Jackson. Collins first shared her decision in an interview with the New York Times on Tuesday afternoon after Jackson met with the senator for a second private meeting at the Capitol. The senator’s statement Wednesday morning said the two had “discussed in depth many of the issues raised at her hearing” and that they did not always agree. “I have no doubt that if Judge Jackson is confirmed, I will not agree with every vote he casts as a judge,” Collins said. “This in itself, however, is not exclusive.” The confirmation process, as it unfolded during the recent Supreme Court nominations, is “relaxing,” the senator said in a statement. Collins stressed that under the Constitution, the role of the Senate in Supreme Court affirmations “is to examine a candidate’s experience, qualifications, and integrity. It is not to assess whether a candidate reflects the ideology of an individual Senator or you will govern exactly as an individual senator would like. “ “This approach has served the Senate, the Court and the country well. It has instilled confidence in the independence and integrity of the judiciary and has helped keep the Court above political dispute,” he said. “And this is the approach I intend to continue to use for Supreme Court nominations because it runs counter to the worrying trend of politicizing the nomination process.” The Senate Judiciary Committee plans to vote on Jackson on April 4. If approved, the nomination will pass to a final vote in the Senate plenary, which Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., is scheduled to schedule by April 8 at the latest. Last week, Jackson endured two grueling days of questioning before the jury in public hearings that often became tense and emotional. In those two sessions alone, Jackson spent more than 20 hours answering dozens of questions from Republicans, who sought her out on a number of court cases and used the spotlight to spread a list of conservative social issues. The committee’s Democrats praised Jackson and often defended her against Republican criticism. This is breaking news. Check again for updates.
