Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson

Nominated by President Joe Biden in February, Judge Jackson’s appointment to the court was confirmed by the US Senate last night in a 53-47 vote.

A native of Washington, D.C., she currently serves as a judge on the US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The 51-year-old judge has two degrees from Harvard, was an editor of the Harvard Law Review and spent two years working as an assistant federal public defender in D.C. in the mid-2000s.

Last night’s confirmation vote was largely split across political party lines, but three Republican senators – including 2012 presidential candidate Mitt Romney – crossed the floor to vote in favour of her appointment.

Judge Jackson’s appointment does not change the ideological balance on the US’ highly politicised top court. Judge Jackson will succeed retiring liberal Justice Stephen Breyer this summer and the court will continue to have six conservative judges and three liberal judges.

She previously worked as a law clerk for Justice Breyer and the White House said she had therefore “learned up close how important it is for a Supreme Court justice to build consensus and speak to a mainstream understanding of the Constitution”.

In a statement, the White House added: “Judge Jackson is one of our nation’s brightest legal minds and has an unusual breadth of experience in our legal system, giving her the perspective to be an exceptional justice.”