Ketanji Brown Jackson to receive rare Republican vote as Collins says yes

Susan Collins with Ketanji Brown Jackson earlier in March. Collins’ support also comes at a time of bitter partisan divide. Photograph: Carolyn Kaster/AP

The Maine senator Susan Collins will vote to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson to the US supreme court, giving Joe Biden’s nominee a rare Republican vote as she proceeds towards becoming the first Black woman ever to sit on the nine-judge panel.

“I have decided to support the confirmation of Judge Jackson to be a member of the supreme court,” Collins, a Republican moderate, told the New York Times after meeting the nominee a second time.