Senate Judiciary Committee to vote on Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Supreme Court nomination

(WASHINGTON) — Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, President Joe Biden’s first nominee to the Supreme Court, is expected to pass a major milestone Monday on her way to expected Senate confirmation later this week.

The Senate Judiciary Committee will vote Monday on whether to send Jackson’s nomination to the full Senate, setting up a final confirmation vote possibly on Friday.

While confirmation is nearly certain for Jackson, it’s unclear how many Republicans will cross the aisle to vote for her.

So far, only one, Maine’s Sen. Susan Collins, has said she would vote for Jackson — and Collins does not sit on the Judiciary Committee.

Ranking Member Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, announced after the committee kicked off its business Monday morning that he will vote no on Jackson’s nomination, paving the way for the 22-member, evenly-split committee to end in a tie vote.

An 11-11 tie will force Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to file a discharge motion to bring the nomination before the full Senate in order to get it out of committee. That motion comes with four hours of floor debate, where some Republicans are expected to try to slow down the process.

If Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska or Mitt Romney of Utah were to vote to advance Jackson’s nomination out of committee on the full floor vote, it may signal how they will vote later in the week when the Senate formally considers Jackson’s nomination to the high court.

But even without Republican support, Democrats have the power to push her nomination forward. The final vote, while bipartisan, will likely be narrower than what the White House had hoped for.

“What I know is she will get enough votes to get confirmed,” White House chief of staff Ron Klain told ABC News’ This Week anchor George Stephanopoulos on Sunday. “In the end, I suppose, that’s the only thing that matters. But I wish more Republicans would look at the case here, look at the record and vote to confirm Judge Jackson.”

With a two-week Easter in sight for senators, Democrats are hoping for a final vote before the weekend.

If confirmed, Jackson would be the first Black woman on the Supreme Court.