Has the GOP failed?
On Monday (April 4), the Senate voted 53 – 47 to advance Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination to the Supreme Court out of the committee, a move that brings her one step closer to final confirmation.
Republican Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Mitt Romney of Utah voted for the “discharge motion,” which takes Jackson’s nomination from the Judiciary Committee to the full Senate.
The two Republicans also released separate statements, saying they would vote for her final confirmations.
Despite this, the Senate still has numerous steps to take before the final confirmation takes place on either Thursday or Friday.
Nevertheless, the support of the three Republican Senators — which includes Susan Collins of Maine — is a significant win for the White House after no Republicans voted for Jackson in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The vote on Monday also formalized Democrats’ intention to vote for Jackson, as all Democrats voted to bring the nomination out of committee.
The discharge motion vote was necessary after the Senate Judiciary Committee became deadlocked at 11-11 on Jackson’s nomination. Members of the committee, which is evenly divided because the Senate is 50-50, decided to vote along party lines.
Ahead of the Judiciary Committee vote, Chairman of the Committee Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) noted that “This is the fourth time the Committee has voted on Judge Jackson in some capacity, a reflection of her extraordinary legal career.”
Durbin added that “It’s the first time that the Committee has had the opportunity to advance the nomination of a Black woman to sit on the Supreme Court. This is a historic moment for this Committee, and for America.”
His words didn’t sway Republicans, who blasted Jackson as a judicial activist, with Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who had previously voted Jackson to the D.C. Court of Appeals said, “She wants an outcome, she’s gonna find it.”
In response to none of the Republican Senators on the Judiciary Committee, Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) told Fox News Digital that “it’s a sad day for the Republican Party,” adding that although “Everybody said she’s superbly well qualified,” Republicans didn’t know “why they were voting against her except for the concocted outrage and meritless demagoguery.”
