WASHINGTON — An evenly split Senate committee deadlocked Monday along partisan lines on a vote to advance Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, President Joe Biden’s Supreme Court nominee.
The Senate Judiciary Committee’s 11-11 vote adds another layer to the process to elevate Jackson to the high court, but likely won’t stop her ascension to become the first Black female justice.
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., immediately took steps toward a so-called discharge motion that would bring Jackson’s nomination directly to the full Senate floor for a vote.
In floor remarks Monday afternoon, he said he would move “as quickly as possible” to “set up a final confirmation vote by the end of this week.”
Although the split in committee was anticipated, the vote was unexpectedly delayed. The committee recessed around 1:15 p.m. Eastern time and stalled the vote until Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., returned from a cross-country flight.
Citing another passenger’s medical emergency that required his original flight to return to Los Angeles International Airport on Sunday, a Padilla spokesperson said the senator “boarded the first available flight this morning.”
The vote followed more than three hours of statements from the panel’s 22 members.
Democrats praised Jackson’s qualifications and experience, while Republicans explained their opposition.
Sen. Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., the committee chairman, called Monday’s vote a “historic moment for this committee and for America.”
This is the first time the panel has considered a Black woman for a seat on the Supreme Court. Republicans said they might have nominated Judge Janice Rogers Brown in 2005, but Democrats voiced opposition if she were tapped for the high court.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who voted to elevate Jackson to the D.C. Circuit less than a year ago but opposes her nomination to the Supreme Court, said “she would not have been before this committee” if Republicans were in charge of the Senate.
Monday‘s deadlock is the first time the judiciary panel has split on a Supreme Court nominee in more than three decades.
In September 1991, when Biden chaired the committee, it voted 7-7 to send Clarence Thomas’ nomination to the floor with a favorable recommendation. That motion failed, but the committee voted 13-1 to send the nomination to the floor without recommendation, and Thomas was confirmed the following month, 52-48.
Schumer’s move toward a discharge motion is rare, but not unprecedented. An identical process played out during the nominations of Justice Department officials Vanita Gupta and Kristen Clarke, as well as other judicial nominees who deadlocked in committee and are still awaiting confirmation.
The discharge process requires up to four hours of debate, equally divided between parties, and a simple-majority roll call vote.
According to the Congressional Research Service, William C. Micou in 1853 was the last Supreme Court nominee to be discharged. However, the full Senate never considered his nomination.
As soon as Tuesday, Schumer is expected to file cloture on Jackson’s nomination, kickstarting up to 30 hours of debate before two additional simple-majority votes: one to end debate and the other to confirm Jackson as retiring Justice Stephen G. Breyer’s successor, likely before the end of the week.
Democrats appear united in support of Jackson, and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, has said she will vote to confirm her, assuring the final tally will be bipartisan.
Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Mitt Romney, R-Utah, two of the Republicans most likely to break ranks and join Collins, have not said how they plan to vote.
