WASHINGTON (Washington Insider Magazine) – On Friday, President Joe Biden welcomed Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson at the White House to commemorate her Senate confirmation as the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court.
At the ceremony on the South Lawn, Biden appeared with Vice President Kamala Harris — the 1st Black woman to occupy that elective position — and Jackson to applause and cheers.
“We’re going to look back and see this as a moment of real change in American history,” Biden said, adding that he has long considered the necessity of choosing a Black woman to the Supreme Court.
Jackson expressed her sincere gratitude to all who stood with her during the confirmation process.
She noted it took more than 230 years “and 115 prior appointments” for a Black woman to be appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States, her eyes watering up at times and her voice heavy with emotion. “But we’ve made it, we’ve made it, we’ve made it. All of us.”
The notion that America might establish a more ideal union has propelled the country forward for years, according to Harris, and it is this belief that the Senate confirmed yesterday with its decision to confirm Jackson.
Jackson was approved by the Senate on Thursday with a 53-47 majority. All 50 Democratic party members joined Republican Senators Mitt Romney of Utah, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Susan Collins of Maine.
Collins has tested Covid positive, Murkowski is in Alaska for a conference, and a representative for Romney has stated that he would not be joining the event on Friday. The Utah Republican and former Republican presidential candidate in 2012 was the sole Republican to applaud Jackson’s approval following the vote.
At the White House on Thursday, Biden and Jackson saw the result unravel.
According to NBC NEWS, Jackson will not be appointed to the Supreme Court until the conclusion of the current term, which is projected to occur in June or July, when Justice Stephen Breyer is scheduled to depart and Biden fulfills a key campaign pledge to name the first Black woman to the court.
Because she is replacing a liberal justice, the Supreme Court will retain a 6-3 conservative balance after Jackson takes her seat on the bench.
