Washington (AFP) - US Supreme Court candidate Ketanji Brown Jackson stands on the threshold of making history this week as the first Black woman appointed to the highest judicial bench after a committee vote Monday saw her move one step closer to confirmation.
Barring any unforeseen hiccups, President Joe Biden's pick to replace retiring Justice Stephen Breyer will break a 12-year drought for Democratic nominees being placed on the court.
She will also be only the third Black justice in its history, and Democrats -- worried about Biden's low approval ratings -- are keen for a headline-making achievement to take into November's midterm elections.
"I've often thought that if you had to choose one place to stand and witness the march of America -- the noble and ignoble struggles of our democracy -- I would seek out a chair in this room," Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Dick Durbin said.
"Today's vote is such a moment. This committee's action today is nothing less than historic."
After several hours of speeches, the panel was split Monday with 11 Democrats backing Jackson and 11 Republicans opposed.
That sets up hours of further debate and procedural voting that would not have been required had the committee broken in her favor.
In any case, there will almost certainly be a definitive yes or no from the full Senate Thursday or Friday -- in what is expected to be among the closest confirmation battles in history.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has pressed privately for his members to oppose Jackson, and at least 47 of the 50 Republicans in the full chamber appear almost certain to vote against her.
One moderate Republican, however, has already joined the 50 Democrats in supporting Jackson, with two others still in play.
"What I know is she will get enough votes to get confirmed," White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain told ABC on Sunday, lamenting that there was not more Republican support.
"In the end, I suppose, that's the only thing that matters."
Republicans in Monday's committee hearing again attacked Jackson as too lenient in child pornography cases, despite her sentencing record being in the mainstream among federal judges.
Senator John Cornyn criticized Jackson's "unwillingness to disclose her judicial philosophy" while his fellow Texas Republican Ted Cruz said she would prove "the most extreme and the furthest-left justice ever to serve on the United States Supreme Court."
