After President Joe Biden’s nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, attention now turns to the Senate’s advice-and-consent process. It takes a simple majority in the Senate to confirm a nominee to the court. The chamber is split 50-50, with Vice President Kamala Harris able to cast the decisive vote in the event of a tie.
Here’s how senators from both parties reacted to the nomination on Friday.
Key Democrats
Two moderate Democrats – Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Joe Manchin of West Virginia – frequently hold the pivotal votes in the Senate, and they have shown willingness to block Biden’s legislative initiatives. Neither Sinema nor Manchin, however, has voted against a single one of Biden’s judicial nominees for the lower courts. Both issued non-committal statements on Friday about Jackson’s nomination.
Sinema said she looks forward to meeting Jackson, adding that she evaluates all judicial nominees based on their professional qualifications, their belief in an independent judiciary, and whether they would uphold the rule of law. “I take seriously my constitutional duty to provide advice and consent,” she said.
Statement on Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Nomination for the Supreme Court pic.twitter.com/S5Ne1VX309
— Kyrsten Sinema (@SenatorSinema) February 25, 2022
Manchin issued a similar statement, saying he would assess Jackson’s “record, legal qualifications and judicial philosophy to serve on the highest court in the land.”
I look forward to meeting with Judge Jackson before determining whether to provide my consent.
— Senator Joe Manchin (@Sen_JoeManchin) February 25, 2022
Republicans to watch
Last June, three Republican senators joined all 50 Democrats in voting to confirm Jackson to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Those three Republicans are Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Susan Collins of Maine, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.
Graham publicly lobbied Biden to nominate J. Michelle Childs, a district judge from his home state of South Carolina. Graham (as well as Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C.) said Childs would bring much-needed educational diversity to the court because she attended public universities. Shortly after news broke that Biden had selected Jackson (who has undergraduate and law degrees from Harvard), Graham tweeted that “the radical Left has won President Biden over yet again.” “The Harvard-Yale train to the Supreme Court continues to run unabated,” he added.
If media reports are accurate, and Judge Jackson has been chosen as the Supreme Court nominee to replace Justice Breyer, it means the radical Left has won President Biden over yet again.
The attacks by the Left on Judge Childs from South Carolina apparently worked.
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) February 25, 2022
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What senators are saying: Tracking reactions to Jackson’s nomination
