US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris (R) preside over Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson (L) for an event commemorating her confirmation to the US Supreme Court on the South Lawn of the White House on April 8, 2022 in Washington, DC.
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Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first black woman to be confirmed to the Supreme Court, on Friday touted joining the top US court as a step for the country to realize its ideals me.
“It takes 232 years and 115 prior appointments for a Black woman to be selected to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States,” Jackson said.
“But, we made it. We did it, all of us,” she said.
Senate confirm Jackson to the Supreme Court in a vote 53-47 on Thursday. Three Republicans joined all the Democrats supporting her nomination.
The 51-year-old federal judge will replace Judge Stephen Breyer, 83, when he retires at the end of the court’s current term. Jackson previously served as secretary to Breyer, who served as attorney for nearly 28 years.
While her bench seat is guaranteed, Jackson won’t become a Supreme Court justice until Breyer steps down later this year. Only then can she take the judicial oath and become Justice Jackson.
Once she does, Jackson will join a court that has become significantly more conservative after appointing three of former President Donald Trump’s nominees. Her addition would maintain the size of the court’s liberal wing, outnumbering the conservative bloc 6-3.
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