During a tight vote in the Senate Monday night, Amy Coney Barrett makes history as the 5th woman to have a seat on the Supreme Court of the United States. Barrett was appointed to the Supreme Court after winning with a 52-48 vote. Barrett is filling the seat of the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg, over a month after she passed away from her battle with cancer. 

The votes for Barrett only crossed one party line, with Republican Senator of Maine, Susan Collins, casting her vote against the new Supreme Court Justice. Collins explained her reasoning for voting against her party as “being fair and consistent,” referencing the controversial descion by Senate minitory leader Mitch McConnell’s decision to proceed with voting Barrett in days before the election, after rejecting the Obama administrations request to fill a Supreme Court seat during the last year of his term. “Before Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death, I stated that should a vacancy on the Supreme Court arise, the Senate should follow the precedent set four years ago and not vote on a nominee before the presidential election,” Collins said in a statement. 

Barrett is who is 48 , is expected to have a seat on the Court for many years to come and will give the conservative votes a 6-3 majority. She was sworn in on the White House lawn later that night. “The oath that I’ve solemnly taken tonight, means at its core that I will do my job without any fear or favor and that I will do so independently of both the political branches and of my own preference. I love the Constitution and the Democratic Republic that it establishes and I will devote myself to preserving it,” Barret said in front of around 200 socially distanced people. She is the 115th justice to be on the Supreme Court, with her term starting as soon as Tuesday.