How the 22 senators on the panel voted on Jackson before

The 22 members of the Senate Judiciary Committee will have the opportunity this week to question President Biden’s Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson for two days of hearings.

Here’s who is on the panel:

Democrats:

Republicans:

Jackson has already been confirmed by the Senate three times for prior roles. Here’s how lawmakers voted in 2021 when she was nominated for the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit:

On Feb. 25, President Biden officially nominated Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court. She would become the first Black woman to sit on the highest court in the nation if confirmed.

“Today, as we watch freedom and liberty under attack abroad, I’m here to fulfill my responsibilities under the Constitution, to preserve freedom and liberty here in the United States of America,” Biden said at the White House as he introduced Jackson.

Biden said it was his “honor to introduce to the country a daughter of former public school teachers a proven consensus builder and an accomplished lawyer and distinguished jurist, on one of the nation’s most prestigious courts.”

Notably, Biden also pointed out the bipartisan work Jackson has done and the support of both Republicans and Democrats, seemingly courting Republican votes for her confirmation. 

“Judge Jackson has already been confirmed by the United States Senate three times,” he said.

Biden talked about her work on a bipartisan commission “to reduce the unwarranted disparities in sensing to promote transparency and fairness in the criminal justice system.”

He also noted Jackson was “confirmed with bipartisan Senate vote to serve on the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, considered the second most powerful court behind the Supreme Court itself.”

CNN’s Jake Tapper, Ariane de Vogue, Jeff Zeleny, Betsy Klein and Maegan Vazquez contributed reporting to this post.

Last month, President Biden nominated Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court to replace retiring Justice Stephen Breyer, fulfilling his promise to pick a Black woman.

Today, Brown Jackson will face the Senate Judiciary Committee to begin her first of four days of hearings on her nomination.

What happens this week: The nominee will be introduced Monday to the committee and deliver an opening statement. The 22 members of the committee, which is chaired by Illinois Democrat Dick Durbin, will have the opportunity to question Jackson about her record and stance on key issues on Tuesday and Wednesday. See who is on the committee here. Lawmakers will then hear from a panel of witnesses on Thursday.

Usually Supreme Court candidates are judges — and Jackson sits on the federal appellate court in Washington, DC — but there’s no requirement in the Constitution that the person be a judge or even a lawyer. That’s just the recent custom. Read more about Jackson’s personal history and legal record from CNN’s Ariane de Vogue.

What happens next: Once the public hearings wrap, then there’s a committee vote. And then there’s a Senate floor vote.

How long does it take to confirm a Supreme Court justice? The confirmation process timeline varies. For instance, with the 2020 election bearing down and the likelihood they would lose control of the Senate, Republicans pushed through Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination in lightning speed — less than a month. Before that, the last nomination to proceed to confirmation in less than two months was Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s back in 1993. These things usually take months.

How many votes does it take to confirm a new Supreme Court justice? It takes 51 votes in the Senate — a simple majority.

Why not 60 votes? Republicans are adamant about maintaining a 60-vote threshold for legislation. But they actually nuked the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees during the Trump administration, so confirmation takes only a simple majority.

Vice President Kamala Harris can break a 50-50 tie, which is a real possibility in these partisan times. There are 50 Republicans, 48 Democrats and two independents who usually vote with Democrats. It’s a split chamber.

Will any Republicans vote for Biden’s nominee? Overwhelming support for nominees, regardless of their political views, used to be routine. Breyer is seen as a liberal justice but he was confirmed 87-9. That kind of bipartisanship has not been seen in recent years.

None of President Donald Trump’s nominees received more than 54 votes. Keep an eye on the more moderate Republicans, like Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.

Will all Democrats vote for Biden’s nominee? West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin has shown himself to be perfectly willing to buck the party line. Democrats will also need to consider other potential wild cards in the Senate.

What will the top issues be? Voting rights is sure to be a key issue as Democrats make that one of their top priorities heading into the 2022 midterm elections and after a raft of decisions by the current court.

Abortion has previously been a key issue during nomination battles. The current court seems poised to either overturn or drastically scale back Roe v. Wade.

The list goes on.

Read more about the Supreme Court confirmation process here.