Senator Susan Collins of Maine plans to vote to confirm Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, ensuring that President Biden’s nominee and the first Black woman to be put forward for the post will receive at least one Republican backer.
But whether Ms. Collins’s support is singular or opens the door to Judge Jackson attracting the votes of other Republicans remained to be seen. The universe of potential backers from across the aisle shrunk on Wednesday with an announcement by Senator Thom Tillis, Republican of North Carolina, that he would oppose the nominee. Mr. Tillis, a member of the Judiciary Committee, had once been seen as a potential vote for confirmation.
Even as he praised Judge Jackson’s “knowledge, her composure and her character,” Mr. Tillis said he could not vote to put her on the court. “I still hold my initial concerns that she may legislate from the bench instead of consistently following the Constitution as written,” he said in a statement that also noted her refusal to condemn adding seats to the court — an issue multiple Republicans have cited as problematic.
