Jackson’s Thin GOP Support Sign of Times in Supreme Court Votes

Ketanji Brown Jackson got three Republican votes en route to a 53-47 confirmation as the first Black woman Supreme Court justice on Thursday.

The backing in the Democratic-controlled chamber from Susan Collins of Maine, Mitt Romney of Utah, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska tracks with increasingly partisan tallies for high court nominees for nearly 30 years.

Justice Stephen Breyer, whom Jackson is replacing, was the last overwhelmingly bipartisan vote. Nearly 80% of Senate Republicans supported the Clinton nominee’s 1994 confirmation, a proportion of the opposing party that no nominee has gotten since—or may ever attract again.

Jonathan Hurtarte