The Senate Judiciary Committee debated Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination for Supreme Court justice on Monday with Democrats aiming to confirm her by the end of the week as the first Black woman on the high court.
The panel recessed at midday after one of the Democrats, California Sen. Alex Padilla, was delayed on a flight. The committee was expected to vote later in the day and deadlock on the nomination, 11-11. All of the Republicans on the panel are opposing Jackson, and the full Senate is evenly split 50-50.
If the committee deadlocks, Democrats are expected to immediately move to the Senate floor to “discharge” Jackson’s nomination. While that won’t delay the process for long, it is still another blow for Democrats who had hoped to confirm Jackson with bipartisan support.
President Joe Biden urged senators to support her in a tweet as the committee meeting began.
“Judge Jackson will bring extraordinary qualifications, deep experience and intellect, and a rigorous judicial record to the Supreme Court,” Biden tweeted. “She deserves to be confirmed as the next justice.”
