Ketanji Brown Jackson testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee last April during her confirmation hearing for the U.S Court of Appeals for the D.C. circuit. Kevin Lamarque/Pool via AP
President Biden’s nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, Ketanji Brown Jackson, is someone Maine’s two U.S. senators know well and are expected to support.
Jackson, 51, went through a Senate confirmation process last year after Biden elevated her from the Federal District Court in the District of Columbia to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The White House said Friday that Biden will formally nominate her to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. Jackson, who served as a law clerk for Breyer two decades ago, is the first Black woman nominated for the U.S. Supreme Court.
Both Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican, and Sen. Angus King, an independent, voted to confirm Jackson to the U.S. Court of Appeals last year.
Collins was one of three Republican senators who voted in favor of Jackson’s confirmation after reviewing her qualifications. The others were Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.
King is a member of the Democratic caucus, which voted unanimously to confirm Jackson for the appeals court.
“Ketanji Brown Jackson is an experienced federal judge with impressive academic and legal credentials,” Collins said in a written statement Friday. “I will conduct a thorough vetting of Judge Jackson’s nomination and look forward to her public hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee and to meeting with her in my office.
King issued a statement congratulating Jackson on the historic nomination.
“I take my constitutional duty of advice and consent on Supreme Court nominations very seriously, and will give her the same thorough consideration I have given every other Supreme Court nominee put before me,” King said. “In the days and weeks ahead I look forward to evaluating her record, listening to her testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, and speaking directly with her to learn more about her judicial philosophy and temperament.”
Collins has voted to confirm six of the seven Supreme Court nominees who have come before the Senate during her time in office.
She voted no on Amy Coney Barrett, the newest member of the court. She voted yes on Neil Gorsuch and was one of the deciding yes votes for Brett Kavanaugh. She also voted to confirm the four nominees that came before her during the George W. Bush and Barack Obama presidencies: Samuel Alito, John G. Roberts, Elena Kagan, and Sonia Sotomayor.
King has voted no on all three Supreme Court nominees who have come before the Senate since he has been a member. All three were nominated by President Trump and were confirmed by Republican majorities in the Senate: Barrett, Kavanaugh and Gorsuch.
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