WASHINGTON, April 4 – Ketanji Brown Jackson, appointed by President Joe Biden in the US Supreme Court, faces another hurdle on Monday in his bid to secure a Senate vote in a Justice Committee divided equally between Democrats and Republicans who may end up equal.
Even in the event of a 11-11-member dispute, Jackson’s nomination will continue in full for the Senate, with Supreme Leader Chuck Schumer last week saying the court is on track to ensure an appellate court judge takes a lifetime before the Easter break. on friday.
If confirmed, Jackson will be the first black woman to hold the highest office of the judiciary in the U.S., joining a liberation movement in court with a 6-3 consecutive majority.
The committee meets at 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT). During his confirmation hearing before a panel last month, Biden’s Democrat allies expressed support for Jackson while Republicans demonstrated opposition.
With the simple majority needed to secure and the Senate split between 50-50 between the parties, Jackson will get a job if the Democrats remain united regardless of how the Republicans vote. Democrats along with Biden control the Senate because Deputy President Kamala Harris could cast a divisive vote.
Senator Susan Collins last Wednesday became the first Republican to announce support for Jackson’s verification while criticizing the current court verification process as highly political. Senator Joe Manchin, the Democratic Conservatives in the Senate, has also announced his support for Jackson.
The process of verifying the Supreme Court nominees has increased dramatically in recent years. While nominees for the past decades tended to win the majority of the Senate, the latest votes were very close, divided by party lines in Washington in terms of party affiliation.
For example, Republican President Donald Trump’s first-choice candidate, Justice Neil Gorsuch, was confirmed in 2017 by a 54-45 vote in favor of the late Justice Antonin Scalia, who was confirmed 98-0 in 1986.
Gorsuch’s confirmation follows a spat within the party after Senate Republicans, then most of them, refused last year to consider electing Democratic Alliance President Barack Obama as Scrick Garland’s successor after Scalia’s death.
Second Trump nominee Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed 50-48 in 2018 after a controversial confirmation process in which he denied allegations of sexual misconduct, while third Trump nominee Amy Coney Barrett was verified 52-48 in 2020 after being appointed a few weeks before for presidential election.
Jackson, if confirmed, will replace Free Justice Stephen Breyer, who was confirmed 87-9 in 1994.
During his trial, Jackson, 51, promised independence if confirmed and accepted the limited role of legal experts. He also thought about the opportunities his parents, who had grown up with racism in the South, had missed out on.
Several Republican senators used the trial to blame him for releasing child pornography offenders during his time as a court judge. Jackson defended his record, saying he had done “his job of arresting defendants.” Prosecutors have called for sanctions against state judges, and American Bar Association witnesses have denied allegations that Jackson was “soft on crime.”
Sexual violence involving children has become a hot topic among social media activists and QAnon’s baseless conspiracy theories, whose supporters throw special liberals and Democrats as a group of child molesters.
“Now this may well play out in the QAnon crowd and in the conspiracy theorists that helped perpetuate the uprising on Jan. 6, 2021, but the American public sees what it is,” Democratic Alliance Senator Dick Durbin, chairman of the committee, finally said. week refers to the Republic’s question line.
The committee’s figures are expected to be difficult after Senator Lindsay Graham, the only Republican to vote to confirm Jackson’s candidacy in June last year in the U.S. Supreme Court of Columbia Circuit, said he would now vote.
A joint committee vote will not preclude Jackson’s nomination, as Democrats are expected to hold a vote in the Senate that will allow it to continue. Democrats are waiting for the final vote to confirm the Senate on Thursday or Friday.