Updated March 30, 2022 at 9:33 AM ET
Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson has picked up at least one Republican vote for confirmation.
Maine Sen. Susan Collins said in a lengthy statement released on Wednesday that, after meeting with Jackson twice in person, "I have concluded that she possesses the experience, qualifications, and integrity to serve as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court. I will, therefore, vote to confirm her to this position. "
Jackson has had united support from Democrats — including West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin — which would be enough for Senate confirmation, and the White House has made significant outreach to GOP senators it hoped could support the nominee in hopes of getting bipartisan backing.
Collins was one of a few Republicans to support Jackson's lower court nomination last year, and she criticized the partisan approach to Supreme Court nominations in her statement:
"In my view, the role the Constitution clearly assigns to the Senate is to examine the experience, qualifications, and integrity of the nominee. It is not to assess whether a nominee reflects the ideology of an individual Senator or would rule exactly as an individual Senator would want."
If confirmed, Jackson would be the court's first Black female justice.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
