Senator Susan Collins of Maine has announced that she plans to vote to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson, essentially guaranteeing Jackson’s place on the Supreme Court when it comes to a full vote next month. (The hope is to hold the vote before senators leave for their spring recess on April 8.)
Democrats would need every one of their 50 votes (and Vice President Kamala Harris’ tiebreaker) to confirm Jackson. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema have taken it upon themselves lately to muck up that incredibly slim majority. Jackson has been taking individual meetings with senators to go over her record/make them feel special and powerful, and following their recent meeting, Manchin announced that he plans to vote for her. Sinema, though, refuses to say what she plans to do. (She’s told outlets that she “doesn’t preview her votes.”)
So even if every other Republican chooses to vote against the most qualified Supreme Court nominee in recent history, as it looks like they plan to do, Collins’ vote would push her through, with or without Sinema.
That is very good news and at the same time, boy do I hate depending on Susan Collins for anything at all, especially something this important.
Collins is constantly presenting herself as a reasonable Republican entity willing to do the right thing when needed, only to pull the football out from under us time and time again. Hopefully, Collins’ unequivocal announcement that she plans to vote for Jackson—her exact words to the New York Times following a second private meeting were: “I have decided to support the confirmation of Judge Jackson to be a member of the Supreme Court”—is enough to prevent any flip-flopping. But again, relying on Susan Collins is never a place we want to find ourselves.
There are a couple of other Republicans who don’t seem to have made up their minds yet (Mitt Romney, Lisa Murkowski), but they’re not likely to make their decision known until the moment they vote, making for a stressful day for the rest of us.
(image: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
