Washington – Candidate for the Supreme Court Ketanji Brown Jackson Confirmation process will enter its next phase on Monday when she appears before the Judicial Commission of the Senate to publicly present his case why he should get approval to sit on the nation’s highest court.
Jackson’s quest to become the first black woman in the Supreme Court (the White House waits with bipartisan support) officially began when she was announced as President Biden’s election to succeed retired Stephen Breyer at the end of February. He has since met individually with senators as he prepares for the Q&A session, which will run for two of the four days scheduled for hearings beginning 24 days after the president’s announcement. .
Democratic leaders seek to confirm Jackson, 51, before the Senate leaves Washington for a two-week hiatus on April 8.
This is what Jackson, a judge at the Washington Federal Court of Appeal, has been doing since Mr. Biden announced her as his Supreme Court nominee more than two weeks ago, and what he is still up to. come to the senate:
Senate meetings
Flanked by a group of aides and led by the Senate by a “sherpa,” former Democratic Sen. Doug Jones of Alabama, Jackson has spent the past two weeks at the Capitol meeting with senators on both sides of the aisle to the so-called courtesy. calls before confirmation hearings.
In-person discussions began first with Democratic and Republican Senate leaders, as well as with Senate Judiciary Committee leaders before moving on to meetings with members of the judiciary and other senators.
Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Some of the meetings were brief: Jackson’s one-on-one meeting with Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina lasted only 15 minutes, while others lasted longer. Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, seen as a possible support vote, and Jackson spoke for about 90 minutes, for example.
Democrats have praised Jackson after meeting with her, and everyone is expected to support her nomination when it comes to a Senate vote. For Republicans, who have applauded his experience and background, some have given little indication of whether they will support Jackson’s nomination, choosing to wait until after the confirmation hearings, while others were closer.
Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, who met with Jackson on Tuesday, called his background “inspiring,” but said his discussion “did nothing to alleviate my concerns that we have a a completely different interpretation of the Constitution and the role of the Supreme Court. “
However, Jones told Capitol Hill reporters that he believes the meetings have gone well and have given Jackson a chance to talk to senators “frankly and openly.”
“It’s really an opportunity for them to understand it not just as a judge, but as a person because you don’t always get it in an audience with bright lights and the intensity of that you don’t always get,” he said. .
Confirmation hearings
Jackson’s closed-door meetings on Capitol Hill will conclude this week, after which he will appear in public before the Senate Judiciary Committee for hearings that will last four days.
The first day will consist of opening statements from panel members, followed by presentations from Jackson by fans. The judge will then appear.
The committee’s interrogation in Jackson will begin on Tuesday and continue Wednesday for a second round. The group will also meet in private on Wednesday to discuss issues related to the FBI’s Jackson background investigation, which is being conducted for each Supreme Court candidate.
The hearings will end on Thursday with the testimony of the American Bar Association, which assesses the qualifications of judicial candidates, and external witnesses.
Jackson is no stranger to the Judiciary Committee, having already appeared in court three times: as a nominee to the U.S. Sentencing Commission, then as a nominee to the federal district court and the Washington Court of Appeals. . She was confirmed by the Senate in each charge.
Expect Republicans on the committee to do so press Jackson on lower court rulings involving a subpoena for the testimony of former White House attorney Don McGahn and former President Donald Trump’s efforts to block the publication of his White House records in the House committee that investigates the January 6 assault on the Capitol.
Jackson will also be asked about his work on behalf of Guantanamo Bay detainees as an assistant federal public prosecutor and in private practice, as well as his views on expanding the Supreme Court. One of the progressive judicial groups that has ruled in favor of his nomination, Demand Justice, is also leading a push to add seats in the high court.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell provided a roadmap on how the GOP approaches Jackson’s nomination in a Senate speech Tuesday, referring to Demand Justice (without naming the group) as a member. of his “fan club.”
“The whole purpose of this group and the fundraising model is to wage war on the legitimacy of the judiciary itself,” he said. “And for some reason, these people desperately wanted Judge Jackson in particular to end up in our highest court. Why? Well, senators will have to explore that.”
McConnell also raised Jackson’s background as a public defender and a member of the U.S. Sentencing Commission, and suggested that Republicans will demand “all necessary documents and records” from their time on the panel.
“We are in the midst of a wave of violent crime, which includes rising rates of homicides and car thefts. Even last summer, when the pandemic posed a greater challenge, more Americans said the crimes violent were a big problem of what was called COVID, “he said. “In the midst of all this, the soft crime brigade is right around the corner from Judge Jackson.”
Jackson, however, has received support from a number of law enforcement organizations, including the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the Fraternal Order of Police, and dozens of former law enforcement officials.
Once the confirmation hearings are over, committee members will meet at a later date to vote on whether to report favorably on Jackson’s nomination to the Senate. Any member of the committee may request a nomination to be held for one week.
The committee is divided equally between 11 Democrats and 11 Republicans, but a tie does not stop Jackson’s nomination from going to the full Senate for a vote.
Confirmation vote
It takes a simple majority in the Senate (51 votes) to confirm a Supreme Court nominee, and with Democrats in control of 50 seats and Vice President Kamala Harris giving tiebreaker votes, Jackson is expected to get approval on what it would be. a historical confirmation.
But a recent medical emergency for Democratic Sen. Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico demonstrated fragility of most Democrats. Luján he suffered a stroke in late January and was out of Washington for several weeks. He returned to the Senate in early March, just after Mr. Biden announced Jackson as a Supreme Court candidate.
While Jackson does not need Republican support to be confirmed by the Senate, the White House and Democrats expect him to receive bipartisan support. Three Republican senators, Graham, Collins and Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, voted last year to confirm Jackson in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, though it’s unclear whether this support will be transferred to his selection in the Supreme Court.
Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah told CNN he is open to supporting Jackson, and Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri, also a Republican, said that while he “would love to vote for the first black woman in court.” , judicial philosophy would be a “significant” factor, according to Politico.
Judicial Committee Chairman Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, told reporters after meeting with Jackson earlier this month that part of his speech to Republicans is that “this is a moment in the history of the United States. America, and I always want to try to be on the right side of history. “
Jones said the White House remains optimistic that Jackson can get the support of Republican senators, including those who opposed his nomination to the DC Circuit.
“If we look at the past statements of many Republican senators about what they are looking for in a judiciary and how they interpret the law and the Constitution and how they seek to make sure that a justice defines and stays a bit in its lane and limited by the Constitution , to stay in his lane and not to make political or legislative decisions, if we look at his history, this is exactly the kind of justice that will be, “he said.
Taking the bench
If Jackson is confirmed by the Supreme Court by the Senate, he will not occupy the bench immediately.
Breyer told Mr Biden in his letter announcing his retirement that he intends his decision to take effect when the court ends its current term, either in late June or early July.
The Supreme Court will meet for its next term in October and is already scheduled to hear an overproduction case of affirmative action involving admission policies at Harvard College and the University of North Carolina, and dispute over religious freedom.
Nikole Killion contributed to this report
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