Listen • 4:57
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is seen as a possible Supreme Court justice, should a vacancy arise in the Biden years.
Updated June 14, 2021 at 2:05 PM ET
Ketanji Brown Jackson, a hot prospect for nomination to the Supreme Court should a vacancy arise, is set to be confirmed to the U.S. Court of Appeals by the Senate.
With Monday s vote, Jackson would take the place of Merrick Garland, who resigned from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit when he became U.S. attorney general. Jackson has been a federal trial court judge since 2013 and was on former President Barack Obama s Supreme Court shortlist in 2016.
WASHINGTON • The Senate on Monday confirmed the first appellate court judge of President Joe Biden’s tenure, elevating a judge with strong prospects of landing on the president’s short list should a Supreme Court vacancy arise.
Senators voted 53-44 to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson to serve on the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the nation’s second most powerful court. She replaces Merrick Garland, who vacated the seat to become Biden’s attorney general.
Biden has promised to name a Black woman to the Supreme Court and many view Jackson as a leading contender. She has written nearly 600 opinions as a district judge in Washington, worked as a federal public defender and served as vice chair on the commission that sets the guidelines judges consult when sentencing federal offenders.
Embed
AUDIE CORNISH, HOST: Tomorrow, the Senate Judiciary Committee begins confirmation hearings for President Biden s first group of judicial nominees. Among them is Ketanji Brown Jackson, already a hot prospect for nomination to the Supreme Court should a vacancy arise. NPR legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg has this profile.
NINA TOTENBERG, BYLINE: If confirmed, Jackson would take the appeals court seat previously held by Judge Merrick Garland prior to his becoming attorney general. She served as a federal trial judge since 2013 and was on President Obama s Supreme Court shortlist. Back then, she was a long shot - not anymore. President Biden has pledged that he would name an African American woman to the court if there s a vacancy, and the 50-year-old judge ticks off just about every box that liberals might want in a nominee and some that conservatives might want too.
AP
Ketanji Brown Jackson testifies before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on pending judicial nominations on Capitol Hill in Washington.
TribLIVE s Daily and Weekly email newsletters deliver the news you want and information you need, right to your inbox.
WASHINGTON The Senate on Monday confirmed the first appellate court judge of President Joe Biden’s tenure, elevating a judge with strong prospects of landing on the president’s short list should a Supreme Court vacancy arise.
Senators voted 53-44 to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson to serve on the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the nation’s second most powerful court. She replaces Merrick Garland, who vacated the seat to become Biden’s attorney general.