CHARLESTON — President Joe Biden’s nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, is working on gaining the support of West Virginia’s delegation in the U.S. Senate.
Jackson, a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, met with Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., Tuesday morning in an effort to gain Republican support for her nomination. Jackson was welcomed into Capito’s office in the Russell Senate Office Building, where the two talked about her qualifications for the nation’s highest court.
“Today, I met with Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, and we had a candid conversation about her background and her record as a judge,” Capito said in a prepared statement after Tuesday’s meeting. “I appreciate Judge Jackson’s readiness to discuss the impact judicial rulings have on the state of West Virginia, and her judicial philosophy.”
Last week, Jackson met with Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. Being a known swing vote within the 50-seat Democratic caucus in the Senate, Manchin’s support will be crucial for Jackson to ascend to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“We had a positive and productive meeting. I appreciate her willingness to meet with me ahead of her confirmation vote,” Manchin said in a statement last week. “Just as I have with previous nominees, I will closely follow Judge Jackson’s nomination hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee and will continue to evaluate her qualifications to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States before making a final decision.”
Biden nominated Jackson last month to become the 116th associate justice on the Supreme Court after Justice Stephen Breyer announced his intentions to retire after 27 years on the bench. Jackson is Biden’s first Supreme Court appointment, with the last three appointments to the court were made by former president Donald Trump.
If the Senate approves Jackson’s nomination, she would be the first former federal public defender nominated to the Supreme Court. She also served as a court clerk for Breyer. Her public defender experience landed her as the vice chair of the U.S. Sentencing Commission by former president Barack Obama in 2010, working on sentencing disparities.
Obama later nominated Jackson for a seat on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, taking her seat on the bench in 2013 after being confirmed by the Senate. Earlier this year, the Senate confirmed Jackson’s appointment to the U.S. Court of Appeals.
The Senate Judiciary Committee is preparing for Jackson’s confirmation hearing. If approved, her nomination will go before all 100 U.S. Senators, including Capito. Despite being confirmed three times by the Senate for other federal judicial positions, Capito said she will deliberate with other senators and vet Jackson’s qualifications carefully.
“As I have said before, I continue to take my constitutional duty to evaluate Supreme Court nominees seriously, and I will keep an open mind as I carefully consider her nomination,” Capito said. “I congratulate Judge Jackson on her historic nomination, and look forward to watching her nomination hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee beginning next week.”