Ketanji Brown Jackson today: Judge says ‘we’ve made it’ as Biden slams GOP ‘verbal abuse’ during hearing

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson delivered a stirring speech connecting her historic confirmation as the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court to many Black Americans’ origin in the United States with a simple phrase: “We’ve made it.”

Ms Jackson made the remarks at the White House the day after the Senate voted to confirm her 53 to 47, with only three Republicans voting with every Democrat to vote for her.

“It has taken 232 years and 115 prior appointments for a Black woman to be selected to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States,” she said. “But we’ve made it.”

CNN reports that two days after the 2020 presidential election, while votes were still being counted, Donald Trump Jr texted then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows saying “we have operational control” to ensure his father would get a second term.

The text appears to refer to the Republican majorities in the US Senate and in swing state legislatures and the possibility of subverting the Electoral College process, the network reports, having reviewed the text — which is among records obtained by the House select committee investigating the Capitol riot.

“We have multiple paths We control them all,” the text reads, outlining a strategy of filing lawsuits in swing states calling for recounts and preventing the certification of results. It then says that GOP lawmakers in Congress could vote to reinstall Donald Trump as president on January 6, 2021.

The text is part of a growing body of evidence showing Trump insiders discussing how to challenge or overturn the results of the election.

Responding to the report, Mr Trump’s lawyer Alan S Futerfas told CNN: “After the election, Don received numerous messages from supporters and others. Given the date, this message likely originated from someone else and was forwarded.”

Mr Biden, who as a senator was chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee that oversees Supreme Court confirmations, said that he expected that the woman he would nominate to replace Justice Stephen Breyer would face a tough confirmation process but that he was appalled by the way she was treated in her hearings.

Andrew Feinberg and Eric Garcia report from Washington, DC.

Hawaii Senator Brian Schatz laid into Senator Josh Hawley for “punishing” American service members and US allies by blocking President Joe Biden’s nominee for the Pentagon’s top civilian logistics post, suggesting the Missouri Republican had no right to do so because of his support for rioters who attacked the Capitol on 6 January 2021.

The West Virginia Rising coalition intends to hold the non-violent protest at the Grant Town Coal Waste Power Plant on Saturday, 9th April, dubbing it “The Coal Baron Blockade”.

Louise Boyle, Senior Climate Correspondent, reports.

Ketanji Brown Jackson made history on Thursday when the Senate voted 53 to 47 to make her the first Black woman Supreme Court Justice in the country’s history.

Vice president Kamala Harris, herself a historic first as the first Black and Asian American woman vice president, was on hand to preside over the confirmation vote. Ms Jackson’s ascent to the highest court in the land was a moment of celebration for many Democrats.

“Today, the administration of justice at the highest levels in our country looks a little bit more like what it says,” Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia, one of only three Black Senators who sat in the audience during her confirmation hearing, told The Independent.

“The absence of Kamala Harris was sorely felt during a vicious set of confirmation hearings,” writes Eric Garcia.

“The justice was targeted during her Supreme Court hearings for supposedly helping ‘terrorists’. As someone who has done the same kind of work — and proudly — I find it sad that she felt she had to minimize what she did,” writes Eric Lewis.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has thanked well-wishers for their kindness since she tested positive for Covid-19.

She says that she remains asymptomatic thanks to the vaccine and booster shots and encourages everyone else to get them.

“The first Supreme Court Justice who looks like you — with hair like yours.”