Republican Senator Susan Collins said in a statement that she would vote to confirm Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court.
The Maine Republican, who is often considered a moderate, met with Ms Jackson twice and said the second meeting inspired enough confidence to vote for her.
“After reviewing Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s extensive record, watching much of her hearing testimony, and meeting with her twice in person, I have concluded that she possesses the experience, qualifications, and integrity to serve as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court,” Ms Collins said. “I will, therefore, vote to confirm her to this position.”
Ms Collins’ vote comes after multiple Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee repeatedly grilled Ms Jackson about sentences she gave to people convicted of possessing child sex abuse images. But Ms Collins criticised senators for asking questions outside their jurisdiction.
“No matter where you fall on the ideological spectrum, anyone who has watched several of the last Supreme Court confirmation hearings would reach the conclusion that the process is broken,” she said. “Part of the reason is that, in recent years, the process has increasingly moved away from what I believe to be appropriate for evaluating a Supreme Court nominee.”
Ms Collins voted to confirm Ms Jackson to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 2021, along with Republican Sens Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. But she had criticised Mr Biden for announcing that he would nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court, which she called “clumsy at best.”
Democrats spent millions of dollars in 2020 attempting to beat Ms Collins in Maine after she voted to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2018 after he had vehemently denied allegations of sexual assault and she delivered a fiery speech defending her decision.
But she won the state overwhelmingly despite President Joe Biden winning the state and she voted against confirming former president Donald Trump’s nominee Amy Coney Barrett to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg just weeks before the election. Ms Collins also voted to confirm both of former president Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominees Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin said on Tuesday that he had been quietly lobbying Republican Senators to vote to confirm Ms Jackson.
“There are those within the Republican Party I know from speaking to them who understand the historic significance of this nomination, and want to make sure that Mr Lincoln’s party, the Grand Old Party, is on board,” he said. “I think that can happen. We’re going to work toward that end.”
