Barack and Michelle Obama delivered emotional tributes to Ketanji Brown Jackson on Thursday after the Senate voted to confirm her elevation to the Supreme Court.
In an Instagram post after the appointment became public, the former first lady led the way when she told the world she was moved to see the addition to the highest court in the land.
“Like so many of you, I can’t help but feel a sense of pride—a sense of joy—to know that this deserving, accomplished Black woman will help chart our nation’s course,” she wrote. “So many women of color now have a new role model to look up to as she serves on the highest court of the land.”
“Thank you, Justice Jackson, for giving Black girls and women everywhere—including my daughters—a new dream to dream, a new path to forge, and a future we can all be hopeful for,” Obama enthused.
For his part, former President Barack Obama also took to social media to share his feelings, enthusing “This is a great day for America, and a proud moment in our history.”
Earlier in the day President Joe Biden offered his praise by delivering hugs in the Oval Office after he watched the vote on C-SPAN inside the White House as it took place in the Senate. Vice President Kamala Harris presided over the vote, as Breitbart News reported.
Neither Biden nor Jackson were wearing masks, even after the president spent time Tuesday and Wednesday with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday morning.
U.S. President Joe Biden and Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson watch the Senate vote on her nomination to be an associate justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, from the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DC on April 7, 2022. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Jackson won’t take office immediately.
Stephen Breyer is set to step down after the court concludes its current term, which is usually in late June or early July. Only then will Jackson take the oath to become an associate justice.
A White House official told AP Jackson will remain in her role on the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit but will continue to recuse herself from cases.
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