She initially told the New York Times her decision to support Jackson before making a statement. Jackson’s confirmation was almost certain after the announcement last week that the moderate Democratic senator of West Virginia Joe Manchin would vote for her, but Collins’ support means that her confirmation will be bipartisan. Collins’ announcement comes a day after he met with Jackson for the second time and later told reporters that he “provided clarifications on some of the issues, so it was a useful meeting.” Asked what those issues were, Collins replied on Tuesday, “I watched a lot of the issues that you would probably think I would pursue.” Only three Republican senators voted in favor of Jackson in 2021 when the Senate confirmed her filling a vacancy in a strong DC-based court of appeals: Collins and Lindsay Graham of South Carolina and Lisa Murcoff of Ashka. Murkowski and Graham have not yet said what their position is on Jackson’s candidacy. Graham told CNN he plans to announce his position on Jackson sometime this week. GOP Sen. Mitt Romney also met with Jackson on Tuesday, but has not yet said whether he will support her after saying he is open to voting in favor of her candidacy for the Supreme Court. This story and title have been updated to include additional developments.
