An emergency medical situation aboard a D.C.-bound flight has briefly delayed the Senate Judiciary Committee’s vote on Monday for Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson.
Officials have confirmed that Sen. Alex Padilla has not arrived on Capitol Hill because of the incident on the aircraft in which he was traveling Sunday night.
The vote will proceed with the California Democrat’s expected arrival on Monday afternoon.
The 22-member committee is split evenly among Democrats and Republicans, so with a party-line vote expected, Padilla’s vote is necessary for Democrats to advance the nomination out of committee and to the full Senate.
Unlike other Senate voting, only dissenting votes are allowed when voting to advance a nominee out of committee.
If confirmed, Jackson would become the first Black woman ever to serve on the Supreme Court.