After Justice Stephen Breyer announced his retirement from the Supreme Court, President Joe Biden revealed Ketanji Brown Jackson as his judicial nominee on Feb. 25.

“I am proud to announce that I am nominating Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to serve on the Supreme Court,” Biden said on the official POTUS Instagram page. “She is one of our nation’s brightest legal minds and will be an exceptional Justice.”

Jackson attended Harvard University, where she graduated magna cum laude, before going on to Harvard Law School, where she graduated cum laude. 

She began her law career clerking for Breyer. She became a public defender, then vice chair of the U.S. Sentencing Commission, then judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. She currently serves as a judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. 

The confirmation hearing began on March 21, with a nearly 22 hour questioning session. It concluded on March 24, where Jackson faced questions from both sides of the aisle. 

Republicans questioned her on her sentencing of child sex abusers, as well as her views on race, gender, guns and abortion rights. She was also asked about her thoughts regarding antiracism and critical race theory.

Democrats highlighted the importance of Jackson’s confirmation, with Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.) even delivering a tearful speech about the significance of the nomination to him.

“You’re a person that is so much more than your race and gender,” Booker said. “For me, it’s hard for me not to look at you and not see my mom, not to see my cousins. I see my ancestors and yours.”

In order for a potential justice to be appointed to the Supreme Court, they must undergo a series of hearings headed by the Senate Judiciary Committee. The examination consists of three parts: a pre-hearing investigation, followed by public hearings and finally a committee decision. 

The committee decision has three possible outcomes- favorable, unfavorable or no recommendation, which are reported to the entire Senate. They then vote whether to confirm the nominee, with a simple majority required. 

The Senate voted 53-47, with Republicans Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Mitt Romney joining every Democratic senator voting in favor for her.

Jackson will not be sworn in until this summer, when Breyer retires. When she joins the high court, the justices will include four women, the most at one time. 

“It has taken 232 years and 115 prior appointments for a Black woman to be selected to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States,” Jackson said. “But we’ve made it. We’ve made it, all of us.”

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