Ketanji Brown Jackson has been confirmed by a 53-47 majority in the United States Senate, and will replace retiring Associate Justice Stephen Breyer on the United States Supreme Court. Jackson, a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, is President Joe Biden’s (D) first Supreme Court nominee.
Breyer announced in January that he intended to retire at the end of the court’s current term. He is part of the court’s ‘liberal wing’ and an advocate of the living constitution school of jurisprudence. Jackson is also generally considered to be a “liberal” judge, so her nomination is unlikely to shift the ideological balance of the court.
The U.S. Constitution charges the Senate with providing “advice and consent” on judicial nominations. Jackson is expected to be sworn-in this summer after Breyer completes the court’s current term and officially retires from the bench.