The U.S. Senate on Monday confirmed Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
Jackson’s nomination cleared the Senate with a 53-44 vote.
Three Republicans — Lindsay Graham of South Carolina, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — voted with Democrats to confirm.
Graham conceded that despite Jackson having “a different philosophy” than him, “I think she’s qualified for the job.”
President Joe Biden nominated Jackson to fill one of the vacancies on the District appellate court, considered one of the most powerful courts in the nation.
Many view the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia as a kind of farm system for Supreme Court justices.
Biden repeatedly stated throughout his campaign his desire to fill any Supreme Court vacancy with a woman of color.
Since 2013, Jackson has served on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, where she has written more than 550 opinions.
“We applaud the Senate’s confirmation of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit,” said Damon Hewitt, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
“Her extensive litigation experience, service as a federal public defender, and distinguished career as a judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia make her preeminently qualified for this position,” Hewitt said.