On Tuesday, Biden’s nominee for Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson will be asked questions from 22 Senators, during a hearing that could last 11 hours.
It has been reported Republicans are planning to refrain from treating Biden’s nominee the same way that Democrats have addressed conservative-leaning nominees in the past.
According to Lindsey Graham (R-SC), “No Republican senator is going to unleash on you an attack about your character when the hearing is virtually over. Graham went on to say, “none of us, I hope, have been sitting on information about you as a person for weeks or months. You come into our offices and we never share it with you to allow you to give your side of the story. We wait to the very last minute when the hearing’s about to be gaveled, concluded, and say, ‘Oh by the way, I’ve got this letter.”
Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) echoed this conscious decision to not exhibit “disgraceful behavior,” going as far as to point out famous instances when Democrats attacked conservative-leaning nominees. Cruz said, “I can assure you that your hearing will feature none of that disgraceful behavior. No one is going to inquire into your teenage dating habits. No one is going to ask you with mock severity, ‘Do you like beer?’ But that’s not to say this hearing should be non-substantive and non-vigorous.”
However, House Republicans have called on the Senate Judiciary Committee to fully investigate Jackson’s rulings, specifically three cases involving child pornography, during which time Jackson was vice-chair of the US sentencing commission.
Issues related to past rulings came to the forefront of the discussion after Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) claimed, “[Jackson] has a pattern of letting child porn offenders off the hook for their appalling crimes.”
Sen. Josh Hawley outlines some district court cases from Judge Jackson’s record that he has concerns with regard to her rulings. #SCOTUS pic.twitter.com/phaf7rsZis
— CSPAN (@cspan) March 21, 2022
Democrats are publically affirming Jackson’s nomination while highlighting the historic nature of Jackson possibly being the first black woman on the Supreme Court. Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI) said, “Some of my Republican colleagues and public figures have attempted to undermine your qualifications through their pejorative use of the term ‘affirmative action,’ and they have implied you were solely nominated due to your race and not for other factors. This is incredibly offensive and condescending.”
Hirono went on to say, “Your nomination is about not about filling a quota. It is about time. It’s about time that we have a highly qualified, highly accomplished black woman on the Supreme Court. It’s about time our highest court better reflects the country it serves.”
"They have implied you were solely nominated due to your race…Your nomination is not about filling a quota… It is about time that we have a highly qualified, highly accomplished Black woman serving on the Supreme Court," Sen. Hirono says of Judge Jackson in opening remarks. pic.twitter.com/5CsFDDheXY
— CBS News (@CBSNews) March 21, 2022
