History was made today as America appointed its first black woman judge to the Supreme Court.
The Senate officially confirmed Ketanji Brown Jackson to the State’s highest court, making her also the first former Government public defender to achieve the position.
Three Republican senators - Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Mitt Romney - voted with all 50 Democrats to confirm President Joe Biden ’s nomination.
Vice President Kamala Harris presided over the vote.
Jackson is the first black woman justice named to the Supreme Court in its 233-year history.
The 51-year-old joined Biden at the White House to watch the vote unfold in the Roosevelt Room of the executive mansion.
She will be sworn in to replace retiring Justice Stephen Breyer and join the Supreme Court at the start of its next term in October.
The judge’s confirmation does not alter the court's composition, which currently has six conservatives and three liberals, including Breyer.
Biden announced the nomination of Jackson in February after vowing during the 2020 presidential campaign to pick a black woman for the high court.
She currently sits on the influential US Court of Appeals for the DC circuit.
Judge Jackson has two degrees from Harvard University and once served as editor of the Harvard Law Review.
