Manchin: “I intend to vote” for Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) may have decided whether Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson will become the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court. After four days of nomination hearings with the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Manchin released a statement Friday, saying, “I have determined I intend to vote for her nomination to serve on the Supreme Court.”

“I am confident Judge Jackson is supremely qualified and has the disposition necessary to serve as our nation’s next Supreme Court Justice,” Sen. Manchin said in the statement. “Her wide array of experiences in varying sectors of our judicial system have provided Judge Jackson a unique perspective that will serve her well on our nation’s highest court.”

Manchin’s support has proven to be key on a variety of President Joe Biden’s priorities. His lack of support has played a significant role in the following Biden administration failures:

• Sarah Bloom Raskin’s nomination to the Federal Reserve Board
• The Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act
• Changes to filibuster rules
• The Build Back Better Act

While he has butted heads with President Biden, Manchin has backed all of Biden’s judicial nominees so far. His support of Jackson indicates she will have the support of all 50 Senate Democrats. That would guarantee her confirmation, with Vice President Kamala Harris breaking a tie if 50 Senate Republicans oppose her nomination.

Manchin’s announcement is also important given it does not appear Jackson’s appointment to the Supreme Court is going to get much support from Republicans. Just hours after the hearings wrapped up, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said he would not vote for Jackson.

“The only real body of evidence before the Senate is her record as a trial judge,” Sen. McConnell said on the Senate floor Thursday. “Those rulings communicate very little about a judge’s approach to big-picture questions of interpretation. But to make matters worse, Judge Jackson declined to answer basic questions about those rulings.”

If Jackson is appointed to the Supreme Court, she and Justice Clarence Thomas would be the only two Black members on the court. On Friday, the Supreme Court announced Thomas has been discharged from the hospital he had been saying for the last week. According to a Supreme Court news release published this past Sunday, “Thomas was admitted to Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C…. after experiencing flu-like symptoms.”

“He underwent tests, was diagnosed with an infection, and is being treated with intravenous antibiotics,” the Court said Sunday. “His symptoms are abating, he is resting comfortably, and he expects to be released from the hospital in a day or two.”

The Court has not said why it took a week for Thomas to be discharged.