Senate set to take first step to confirm Jackson, despite GOP hurdle

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson has at least one more hiccup before the Senate can proceed on her nomination to the Supreme Court.

The Senate Judiciary Committee gaveled in Monday for a long meeting with an all-but-certain outcome: Senators are expected to deadlock on party lines on moving her nomination forward. The anticipated tie would force Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to set up an additional floor vote for the Senate to proceed, a small hurdle as Democratic leaders aim to confirm Jackson to be the first Black female justice on the high court before the end of the week.

In his opening remarks, Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said that Monday’s committee vote is “nothing less than making history.”

The timing of the panel’s vote, however, was unclear. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), a member of the Judiciary Committee, faced flight delays “due to a passenger medical emergency,” according to his spokesperson. Padilla is expected to arrive later Monday afternoon. His vote is needed to move Jackson forward.

The fate of the panel’s vote tally was all but sealed, after Sens. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) announced they would vote against Jackson ahead of the hearing. Democrats had privately hoped those two senators would consider supporting Jackson or abstaining, given their comparatively friendly style of questioning during her confirmation hearings.

But Senate Republicans in their opposition cited Jackson’s decision not to comment on adding seats to the Supreme Court as well as her sentencing record for child pornography cases. (Jackson’s defenders are quick to note that her sentencing record is in line with the vast majority of Democratic- and Republican-appointed federal judges, and that conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett said that the size of the Supreme Court is a “question left open for Congress.”) GOP senators also expressed concerns about her judicial philosophy, as well as her representation of Guantanamo Bay detainees while she was a public defender.
In his opening statement, Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the top Republican on the committee, said that he and Jackson have “fundamentally different views on the role judges should play in our system of government.”

Meanwhile, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who supported Jackson’s nomination to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals last year, said she would be the first Supreme Court nominee he’d oppose.

“This choice of Judge Jackson was really embraced by the most radical people in the Democratic movement, to the exclusion of everybody else,” Graham said. “If we get back the Senate and we're in charge of this body and there's judicial openings, we will talk to our colleagues on the other side, but if we were in charge she would not be before the committee."

Despite GOP opposition in committee, Jackson appears to be on a glide path to replacing retiring Justice Stephen Breyer on the Supreme Court. She is expected to have full support not only from the 50-member Democratic caucus, but also the backing of at least one Senate Republican: Susan Collins of Maine. That gives Democrats a cushion in case there are absences this week or, if all 50 Democratic senators are present, prevents the majority party from needing Vice President Kamala Harris to break a tie.

It’s not clear yet whether Collins will be the only Republican to vote for Jackson. While the vast majority of the GOP caucus will oppose her nomination, Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Mitt Romney (R-Utah) have yet to announce their decision. Murkowski supported Jackson’s nomination last year to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, while Romney voted against her. Romney said last week he is still evaluating Jackson’s judicial record.