USA: Biden’s Supreme Court nominee removes an important obstacle

United States of America
Biden’s Supreme Court nominee removes an important hurdle

US President Joe Biden’s nominee for a vacancy in the Supreme Court has removed a major hurdle in the Senate.

After a deadlock in the chamber’s Judiciary Committee, Democrats decided to hold a formal vote in the Senate to advance Kitangi Brown Jackson’s nomination to the Supreme Court. The necessary majority was achieved. The final vote is still pending. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer wants this to happen by the end of the week. Jackson, 51, would become the first black justice of the Supreme Court if confirmed in the Senate.

In the Senate plenary session, Biden’s Democrats have a slim majority. Three moderate Republicans announced that they would vote for Jackson. They actually voted with the Democrats in Monday night’s official vote, thus helping to achieve a 53-vote majority. So Jackson’s final confirmation is considered safe.

Republicans are rallying — but not all of them

Few Republicans had actually voted for her when she was nominated for her current position as a judge on an important appeals court in Washington, DC. Other prominent Republicans have criticized her for being too liberal. Republican Senator Ted Cruz warned that Jackson would be “the most radical and left-wing justice ever to serve on the Supreme Court.”

Liberal judge Stephen Breyer announced his resignation in January. For the first time in his term, Biden has a chance to fill a position on the Supreme Court. Clarence Thomas is the only African American to be among the top nine judges in the country. There was no black woman on the seat there.

Supreme Court justices are appointed for life. Their selection is always a painstaking political process. However, Jackson’s election will not change the current Conservative majority on the court.

dpa