Ketanji Brown Jackson has taken the first step in the Senate confirmation process, with a view to being the first black woman on the United States Supreme Court.
Jackson filled out a 149-page questionnaire from the House Judiciary Committee, and will meet with the relevant senators in the coming days.
President Joe Biden will deliver his State of the Union address and it is very likely that he will ask for an expedited confirmation for his nominee there.
Jackson will be received by senators on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, getting the process off to a fast start.
Democrats hope to have the confirmation of Jackson, who would replace Stephen Breyer, ready by mid-April.
Judiciary Committee Chairman Senator Dick Durbin said that once Jackson’s questionnaire was received, the panel might begin scheduling confirmation hearings, likely to take place in mid-March.
The panel sent out the questionnaire on Friday and she returned it on Tuesday.
“I think that possibility exists,” Durbin said, referring to confirming Jackson by mid-April.
If confirmed, Jackson will be the first black woman in the more than 200-year history of the highest US court.
Breyer has said he will retire until the summer, but Democrats don’t want to take the slightest risk since the Senate is split 50-50 and the tiebreaker vote would have to be cast by Vice President Kamala Harris.
In the 149-page questionnaire, Jackson reveals that the White House first contacted her on January 30, three days following Breyer announced his retirement.
Jackson, who last year was confirmed as a judge in an appeals court in the District of Columbia, was considered a favorite to be nominated by Biden, who had promised to appoint a black woman.
Jackson met by video with Vice President Kamala Harris on February 11 and was interviewed by Biden at the White House on February 14, she says in the questionnaire.
The president called her to offer her the nomination on February 24, one day before making the announcement publicly.
