(Bloomberg) -- Ketanji Brown Jackson is meeting Wednesday with top senators in both parties to begin discussions that will help determine whether she's in for an easy or an arduous confirmation to be the first Black woman on the U.S. Supreme Court.
Jackson is no stranger to senators, 53 of whom voted to confirm her just last year to a seat on the influential D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. President Joe Biden hopes to reprise that bipartisan support for Jackson in the coming weeks, but no vote is guaranteed in the high-stakes Supreme Court confirmation process. The Judiciary Committee has scheduled four days of hearings on Jackson's nomination beginning March 21.
These are the key senators to watch in the confirmation process.
Susan Collins, Maine Republican
Biden has been particularly focused on winning over Collins, who frequently works with Democrats and sometimes splits with her party. She voted against one of former President Donald Trump's three nominees, Amy Coney Barrett, arguing she was nominated too close to the 2020 presidential election. She also backed the two who were nominated by his Democratic predecessor, former President Barack Obama, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.
Collins, who Biden called twice before announcing his pick, supported Jackson's confirmation to the D.C. Circuit last year. On Friday, she called Jackson “an experienced federal judge with impressive academic and legal credentials.”
Lisa Murkowski, Alaska Republican
Murkowski also is being wooed personally by Biden, since she supported Jackson last year and isn't shy about bucking her party. She didn't vote with other Republicans to elevate Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Trump's second Supreme Court nominee. However she also voted against Sotomayor and Kagan.
Murkowski is up for re-election this year, with a primary opponent backed by Trump. But Murkowski has previously won state-wide as a write-in candidate and a vote for Jackson could help her with Democratic voters.
Murkowski said Friday that her previous support for Jackson doesn't necessarily indicate how she'd vote for on a Supreme Court nomination. She said the standard for a lifelong appointment to the high court “is an incredibly high bar to achieve.”
Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican
Graham, who frequently cites the adage “elections have consequences,” supported Sotomayor and Kagan, and some of Biden's lower court nominees including Jackson.
But he lobbied the White House to pick U.S. District Court Judge and South Carolinian Michelle Childs for the Supreme Court seat. On Friday, Graham tweeted that Jackson's selection “means the radical Left has won President Biden over yet again.” Asked this week if he's open to supporting her, he simply responded, “stay tuned.”
Mitt Romney, Utah Republican
Romney has supported some of Biden's lower-court judges, although he didn't vote to confirm Jackson last year. The White House has been in close contact with him, and he told reporters this month he's open to supporting her.
After Biden nominated her last week, Romney called her “an experienced jurist” and said “her historic nomination will inspire many.” He probably won't announce what he'll do until after the confirmation hearings are over.
Joe Manchin, West Virginia Democrat
Manchin has bedeviled Democrats by splitting with the party on key matters like the president's economic agenda and voting rights legislation, and it can't be ruled out that he could do so again. But he's voted with his party in favor of all of Biden's district court and appellate court judges.
Manchin said weeks ago he could vote to confirm a Supreme Court nominee with a more liberal philosophy than his own, telling a West Virginia radio anchor that the nominee's philosophical beliefs “will not prohibit me from supporting somebody.”
Kyrsten Sinema, Arizona Democrat
Sinema also has bucked her party on issues like the minimum wage, Biden's economic agenda and ending the filibuster to push through voting rights legislation. But her past backing of Biden's judicial nominees could bode well.
She's not giving any hint what she'll do, only saying she would consider “whether the nominee is professionally qualified, believe in the role of an independent judiciary, and can be trusted to faithfully interpret and uphold the rule of law.”
Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican
The Senate's minority leader pulled out the stops to alter the federal court system when Trump was in power and Republicans held the Senate, permanently ending the filibuster on high court nominees to confirm Justice Neil Gorsuch and barreling ahead with Barrett's confirmation just weeks before the 2020 presidential election.
He'll be the key figure in deciding just how hard Republicans work to fight Jackson's confirmation. So far, he's not signaling plans to set tough procedural hurdles, promising a “thorough Senate process that the American people deserve.” He's also making clear he'll likely vote against her, noting he never supported Jackson's confirmation to the D.C. Circuit and that she's only authored two opinions there.
Some members of his GOP leadership team say Republicans would gain by focusing on inflation and other issues that are driving down Biden's approval ratings down rather than waging a Supreme Court battle they probably can't win.
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