America is to have its first black woman judge on the Supreme Court.
After a US Senate panel was first deadlocked in a vote to approve Ketanji Brown Jackson, it was later passed when three Republicans voted in favour to move her nomination to a full floor vote.
Democrats want to hold a ballot on her confirmation by Friday when Congress breaks for a two-week spring break.
With a 50-50 split Senate and the backing of at least three Republicans, Brown will all but assuredly be confirmed in the coming days.
Moderate Republican Senators Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Mitt Romney of Utah joined Democrats after an 11-11 vote earlier on Monday left her Supreme Court nomination deadlock.
Before Monday's vote, some lawmakers said they remained in opposition to Judge Jackson's confirmation, citing her weak sentencing of a child incest rapist.
Judge Jackson will become the first former public defender on the court, bringing her nine years of experience on the federal bench.
She is set to replace Stephen Breyer, another liberal justice, who is set to step down.
On confirmation Judge Jackson, 51, will be the first black woman justice named to the Supreme Court in its 233-year history.
She would also be just the third black American to ever sit on the country's top court, following justices Thurgood Marshall and current Justice Clarence Thomas.
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 the Harvard Law Review editor.
